


Eyes of the Beholder

by Isis_the_Sphinx



Series: Beholderverse [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Endless Homestuck References, Entirely Self-Indulgent, F/F, F/M, Minor Angst, Original Player Character, Pokemon X play through novelisation, Semi-Endless Pop Culture References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2018-02-05 04:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 124,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1804825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis_the_Sphinx/pseuds/Isis_the_Sphinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm adapting the plot of Pokemon X into novel format, with a gratuitous self-insert as the main character, since that's what the video games are anyway. Expect gods to drop in, eventually.</p><p>Brienne didn't know where she was, or why she had been dropped there in just her pajamas. All she knew was the miracle monsters around her were for the most part, very tame. What the ever loving hell was going on?</p><p>"Beauty was always in the eye of the beholder, anyway."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm not Alice, who threw me down the rabbit hole?

**Author's Note:**

> Yooo! So, you're giving this story a chance. Awesome. Thanks. Give the first chapter a read, I promise you won't regret it.  
> I decided to write this, because, well, why else does one write a self-indulgent fic? I wanted to have a lot of fun with this, and I am. Also, I have a lot of issues with how some of the situations in the plot itself were handled. You'll see my ranting when they come up. It will be entertaining. I'll sell tickets. XD  
> I currently have some 23,000 words written. You don't get them all at once. I'm giving myself a buffer, because otherwise I am not a fast writer. Updates will be somewhat sporadic and unscheduled, so hit the subscribe button if you like this enough.  
> Inspiration and motivation from Lalunaticscribe's Savoir-Faire: To know and To do; 50caliberchaos's The Sun Soul; Oriflamme's Like One Sundered Star (which is a bit of chaos in and of itself); and a few other pokemon fics that I've read over the years.  
> Dive in, dear audience, and enjoy.

There was grass under her hands. There was a _lot_ of grass under her hands. There was also a very bright light shining above her closed eyelids that could possibly be the sun. But she wasn’t quite sure of that, seeing as the last place she remembered being was in some friend-of-a-friend’s dark basement. Actually, she remembered bonking her head into a wall on the way to the bathroom in a sleep-fogged stumble, but that was about it.

This could be a prank. She slept heavily enough that it would be completely possible to roll her onto a sheet, pick her up, walk her outside to whatever location, put her down, roll her off the sheet, and she’d just keep on snoring.

It’d happened.

She learned to make sure to stay home and lock all doors before April Fools.

She would get absolutely nowhere if she kept laying here with her eyes closed, however. She groaned and rolled herself over onto her stomach, finally giving her closed eyes the relief from the burning ball in the sky they wanted. Morning person she was not.

Right. Sitting up. _Any minute now…_ Groaning again, she propped herself up with her arms, squirmed her legs under her, and sat up. Her hands came up to rub the sleep sand from the corners, blinking slowly open to see the midmorning light.

She froze at the sight standing in front of her. It was maybe five feet tall; red eyes, had green hair, and wore an elegant white cocktail dress. And it was staring at her. She had no idea what in the world it was.

Why was she not screaming? Did she get dropped into a horror movie, and this thing was a ghost about to messily spread her insides all over this outside?

The ghost bent down slowly and she flinched, expecting the worst when all she felt was a small, warm hand on her shoulder. The warmth slowly spread from there down her spine, until all she felt was an almost-drowsy fuzzy comfort. The ghost? Monster? Thing? Seemed to smile, tilting its head and slowly pulled her to her feet. The girl, standing next to the very solid ghost, was maybe an inch taller.

Tugging at her hand, the ghost pulled her forwards into the edge of a forest. She hadn’t been anywhere near a forest when she went to sleep. The house had been in the suburbs, and the closest possible forest was a forty-mile car trip north. The fear and confusion at her unknown location was registered in the girl’s head, but blocked, like it wasn’t that important, her emotions wrapped in that drowsy fuzzy comfort. This should have worried her more.

The two walked for a short while, the girl’s feet sinking into the soft forest litter. As they walked, the girl caught glimpses of other monsters hiding in bushes, in the trees. They looked off from the animals she knew were supposed to live in forests. Off and very brightly colored. Had she been dropped in some child’s version of Uncanny Valley? Or was she just on one hell of an acid trip? There was no way to know.

The two stopped when they reached a hollow in a large, old tree, the ghost slipping inside. A moment passed and the ghost-monster came back, holding two very large eggs. She, the ghost-monster had to be a she, that was just the impression the girl got from her, handed her the two eggs, one cradled in each arm. Then, making sure the girl had a firm hold of each egg; the ghost-monster took hold of her sleeve and tugged her in yet another direction.

The fear, worry, and confusion were held at bay by the fuzzy comfort still. The girl looked down at the ghost-monster’s hand.  
Three fingers, tipped with gently shaped nails. This was no ghost. She wasn’t sure on the monster status, but it was too real.

Time became just a little bit blurred to the girl, with the sun warm overhead and the blocked perception of her fear. After a while, the trees began to thin, and then disappear. Meadow gave way to the backs of single family homes. The monster stopped her constant walk, chivvying the girl forward towards the small town. Glad to finally see civilization, the girl happily left the forest and the monster behind.

The monster watched the girl enter the town and disappear around a corner, nodded once to herself, and vanished back into the forest.

~*~

It wasn’t until she’d already knocked on the door to the house that the fear and confusion and everything else that had somehow been far in the mental distance came up to ambush her. Sometime between the ten seconds after the last knock on the door and when it opened, the girl’s face went from calm and passive to a complete mess. Her eyes were red and watering, her nose was starting to drip, and minor shakes were wracking her body, and she curled into herself, holding the eggs even closer. 

“Hello?”

“…help. I think I’m lost…”

The middle-aged lady ushered her in the house and into the kitchen, pushing her into a chair at the large round table. Before she knew it there was a blanket around her shoulders and a cup of gently steaming tea at the table in front of her. The girl carefully placed the two eggs on the table, wrapping her hands around the tea and huddled into the blanket.

“What’s your name, honey?”

“Brienne. Where am I?” Brienne tugged the blanket even closer, looking more like a blanket covered lump than a girl, light dirty blonde hair hiding red-rimmed hazel eyes. She sniffled. Worst prank ever.

“I’m Grace. You’re in Vaniville town. Do you remember what happened?”

Brienne sniffed again and wiped her nose with her wrist. At this point she really didn’t care. She just wanted to go home, call Jeff, complain about the horrible prank and eat her weight in mac and cheese. “I went to sleep at a friend’s house last night and woke up this morning in a forest and this monster dragged me all over the place,” Sniff again, snort. God, she hated it when she cried. Her body all up and decided that was the perfect time to leak everywhere. “Gave me these two huge eggs, and then led me here.” She took a huge gulp of the tea.

Grace blinked, and then smiled softly. “Can you tell me what the monster looked like?”

“It was my height…”She thought for a bit more. Geeze, everything was fuzzy. Why was it fuzzy? “Had green hair, and, and it had this really pretty white dress on. Looked really graceful.” 

“A Gardevoir?”

“I dunno what it was…I just wanna go home. Can I use your phone?”

“Sure, honey. Let me get the handheld.”

A moment passed before the lady returned with an odd looking phone, the buttons looking even odder beyond the basic 1-9 set.

“Uhm…I don’t recognize this model. Mom and Dad like taking their time updating stuff. Do you think you could…?” This wasn’t a surprise. She had a hard time with most smart-phones and even some of the new touch-screen laptops.

Grace nodded and hit a couple buttons. “Just type in the number and hit the red button on the right.”

It took her a little longer to get her fingers to obey her than she thought. She still shook with minor tremors. She put the phone to her ear and waited.

 _“We’re sorry, but this number is disconnected. Please hang up and try again.”_ Brienne put the phone down.

“Honey?”

“The number’s disconnected. Where am I again?” There was that odd mental disconnect again, but this time Brienne knew it was caused by the mounting wave of panic in her head.

“Vaniville town.”

“I don’t know where that is.”

“The southern Kalos region? It’s okay if you don’t recognize it; it’s a small town that only got founded fifty or so years ago.”

“Kalos…?” She had never heard of Kalos. It didn’t sound like anywhere on any map she had seen. Ever. At all. And she loved maps.  

Grace quickly read Brienne’s growing panic. “You’re more lost than just a town away, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” Her voice went high and broke around the lump in her throat. “I think so.”

Grace put a hand on Brienne’s. “Where are you from, dear?”

“The United States?”

“I haven’t…” Grace took in Brienne’s wide eyes and insistent nod. “Oh.”

“Help.” Brienne felt her pulse race, each pound cementing the fact that home was far away and she had no idea how to get there.

“Oh, honey…”  Grace pulled Brienne into a warm hug as the girl broke into noisy tears.

“I just want to go home!” She sucked in a breath, biting her lip and fought back the urge to be a three year old. “What do I do?” This wasn’t a thing real life prepared you for. How do you survive in a new world in only your pjs? She didn’t even have socks on. Or a towel. Don’t you need a towel for this sort of thing?

“Stay here. Stay here until you get your feet under you or you find a way back home. I’ve got more than enough room.”

“What? But…” No way was this lady just offering out of the goodness of her heart to house a twenty-year old girl who had no idea what was going on around her.

“No buts. I live in an empty house big enough for a family of five. And you need it.”

She was.

“Okay.” She’d be out of here in no time. Just a little research and then she’d be going home. Couldn’t be hard.

As long as the dolphins here didn’t sing and thank them for the fish, she was golden.

“Finish your tea, Brienne, and I’ll show you to the guest bedroom and bath. You could probably use a nap after your adventure today. I’ll get some of my clothes together for you, and we’ll head out later this evening to get you some stuff you like.”

Brienne nodded, taking another swallow of her cooling tea. “All right. Just…one more question.”

“I’m all ears.”

“What’s a gardevoir and what’s in those eggs?”

“A Gardevoir is a psychic and fairy type Pokémon. You said it gave you those eggs?”

She scratched her head. “Yeah.”

“Oh, wow, it probably wants you to raise those Pokémon when they hatch. Gardevoir are somewhat shy of humans.”

“Okay…what’s a Pokémon?” This world was very different from the one she was used to.

“You don’t know what a Pokémon is?” Grace stopped and stared at Brienne in shocked surprise, who blinked back, mildly confused.

“Sounds like an awkward portmanteau. Should I know?”

“I think we’ll hit the library after we hit the boutiques.”

“Oh boy.” Brienne groaned and let her forehead rest on the table.

~*~

The Aquacorde library was small, maybe the size of two large town homes stuck together. It catered to two small towns with low populations, and didn’t need to expand, nor did it have the funds to. The librarian at the desk greeted Grace by name and she quietly waved back.

“Okay, Brienne, you’re probably going to want something like…” Grace leaned back on her heels and thought for a moment. “Pokémon for Beginners? Go take a look in the non-fiction section. I’ll be with you in a bit.”

“Sure, Grace. I’ll be fine. I know how to get around in a library.” It was smaller than the one she had at home, but it was a library all the same, the same faint scent of paper mold and ink that hit her nose as she wandered the aisles.

Brienne smiled softly as she knelt down and started reading book spines. The action was familiar, and it pulled the tension out of her shoulders that she’d been holding all day. So there were creatures in this world that could do miraculous things at the drop of a hat. That didn’t matter so much here. Books were books.

A bright yellow cover caught her eye. _‘So You Want To Be a Pokémon Trainer.’_ Sounded basic enough. Grace couldn’t help but show off her champion Rhyhorn on the way here, amazingly affectionate thing that it was, so the exact idea of Pokémon was slowly growing on her. She cracked it open to a page near the front and skimmed.

                _‘…_ _Creatures themselves, based on various plants, animals, and other concepts, inhabit virtually every corner of the_ _world_ _. Many make their homes in forests and on rural_ _routes_ _stretching across the various regions, while still others are native to cities and other urban centers. Currently, there are 719 known Pokémon_. _’_

Well. That was a lot.

Then again, it was tiny compared to the sheer thousands of animal and plant species she knew scientists were recording back home. But none of them could spit fire if they wanted.

Right. This book went in the pile.

 _‘Kalos and the Fairy Type.’_ Book number two.

 _‘Encyclopedia of Legendary Pokémon’_ became book three. She had no idea how she got here. Grace had no idea how she got here. Creatures that could spit fire probably had a species that could screw with space-time.

 _‘Basic Pokémon Dictionary’_ topped the pile at four. She could come back later and get more if she wanted. She probably would. Aquacorde Town was a short, half-hour’s walk. In a world where cars were barely used except by the richest of the rich, walking and public transportation was at a high Brienne never thought she’d see.

This world kept surprising her.

Soft footsteps against industrial carpet had her look up to see Grace, peering down at the pile she had accumulated.

“Got a few good starts, then?”

Brienne grinned up at her, leaning back to shift from sitting on her feet to sitting cross-legged. “Yeah. This’ll work out fine. I’ve always had a deft hand in libraries. I spent most of high school in one.”

“…High School?” Grace furrowed her brows, confused, as she sat down to listen. “I don’t recognize the term. Children here have a basic tutor regimen that they follow until they are ten. If they decide not to go on their Pokémon journey at that time, research is done to determine what they wish to study instead.”

“Really? Huh. High school is, well. Hm. How do I explain this? Back home, public school started at about age five. Between the teachers there and hopefully your parents, they taught you your basic alphabet and numbers. Mostly this first year was for socialization? Get the kids used to being around a lot of other little kids, and get them used to listening to the teacher. Grades one through five went through ages six to ten. You got your basic reading, writing, and comprehension, and math. History and science kinda get poked at, but there were state tests and levels to reach. This group is called elementary school. Grades six through eight are called middle, or junior high school, and grades nine through twelve are called high school. Once you graduate high school, you’re no longer ‘required,’” Brienne snarled the word out, a look of disgust coming over her face. “To go through education. The next level is called college. That one ring a bell?”

Grace nodded.

“Cool. High school’s the final education tier before they let us loose in the world in general. It’s also the most hormonally driven, clique tortured, stereotypical dungeon you can stick a bunch of kids aged fourteen to eighteen in for eight hours straight. I spent most of my time in the school library to stay away from the teasing.” Brienne shrugged. “It comes in handy.”

“It was that bad?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, not looking at Grace to hide the fact that she was biting her lip. “Middle school was worse. I couldn’t hide in the library then. Eleventh and twelfth grade got better. The kids in those years no longer cared about teasing me, and the younger ones didn’t dare. I was the ‘Library Mistress.’” She snorted and shook her head. “It worked.”

“Ah.” Grace could see the silent, ‘please change the topic’ sitting in the air between them. “So you think you’re good to go? Library closes in half an hour, and we’ve still got to get home.”

“Oh! Yeah, I’m good with these. Thank you so much. Everything’s so…”

“Different?”

“That’s one word for it.”

“What’s another?” Grace dug through her purse to find her rarely-used library card.

“Peaceful, maybe.” She stepped up to the check-out counter with Grace, handing over the books when asked. A better word was utopic. There was so little hate. She could already see it, and she’d only been to two towns. Was it just because the towns were so small? Maybe that explained it.

~*~

Brienne quickly became used to a world full of Pokémon. A routine built itself around her. For the first week she stayed close, mostly reading inside, taking notes from the rented books and occasionally going down to the grocer’s at the end of the street. The eggs she’d been given on that first, crazy day incubated, cozily sat on a thin cushion on the kitchen table. Grace suggested that Brienne take them into her room with her when she went to bed every night. If the mother of those eggs had been a Gardevoir, the Pokémon inside were probably psychic and could probably sense them already. It was good Pokémon raising.

Brienne wasn’t sure what to think. That day still unnerved her. A supposedly shy Pokémon guiding her through the forest, giving her a couple eggs, and then sending her on her way. It didn’t make sense.

After the first week, the cabin fever got to be a little much. Grace had been encouraging her to take a walk around town, get to know people, go wander in the nearby forest—don’t worry all the local Pokémon are relatively tame, they won’t hurt you—go see the sky. It was about time she did that.

She stepped out the front door in jeans and a t-shirt, purse at her side with lunch in it. Rhyhorn grumbled from his mat on the lawn.

“Hey, old man, how’re you doing?” Rhyhorn rumbled deep in his throat, nuzzling gently at her middle when she bent down to give him a hug. “Yeah, love you too. Guess what?”

He rumbled again, head tilted. “I’m finally going for that long walk. Gonna see new people, that sort of thing. I’ll be back after lunch, okay?”

Rhyhorn nuzzled her one more time before settling down for another nap. “Cool beans. See you later.”

She turned and headed for town square. The sun was high in the sky and the day was warm, barely a cloud to be seen. If most days were like this, she could easily get used to living here.

At least for a while. It’d been a week, and she already missed her parents, her friends. She was only a stranger, getting used to a new land while looking for a way home.

Vaniville town was smaller than even her home town. There were a couple blocks worth of single family homes, a town square, the mayor’s office, and five or six basic shops for necessities. A grocer’s, a hardware/crafts store, and a post office caught Brienne’s eye. The center of town square was so simple. A statue of a very exaggerated and colorful butterfly stood in the center of a neatly kept circular garden, petunias and pansies scattered around artfully. Two benches sat on opposite ends of the garden, facing outwards.  Brienne lowered herself onto one bench and leaned back, content to switch between people-watching and cloud-watching for the time being.

Or, well, she was.

“Hi I’m Shauna! I’ve never seen you here before. What’s your name?”

Oh dear heavens she was adorable.

“Uhm…Brienne.” She blinked, flabbergasted by the force of personality that had sat herself down next to her. Four very curly pigtails kept dark brown hair out of bright green eyes, and a bright smile came accompanied by two dimples. Her outfit matched her personality, an eye-catching pink shirt patterned with bow-ties and a pair of jean-shorts.

“Hi Brienne! I’ve never seen you before so you’ve got to be new to Vaniville town! I’ve been here for ages…Oh you’ve got to meet Calem and Tierno! They’re just down the street and we were all gonna meet up today. Come with me?”

“Okay…” There was no escaping this easily. The question was just a formality. She was going with Shauna regardless. At least lunch was in her bag. Today all of a sudden just got a lot longer.

“Awesome! You looked like you could use some friends. Let’s go!”

And maybe it got a little bit less lonely.

~*~

Shauna, for being five foot nine at the most, was _fast._ Very, very fast, and she had no intention of letting go of Brienne’s hand the whole way there. Brienne would have preferred to walk up to the group slowly, and wait for the right time to introduce herself. Nope. Not if Shauna had anything to say about it.

“Hey guys! This is Brienne! She just moved here!”

Yeap. Shauna, the Force of Nature.

“Hi, Brienne, I’m Tierno.” Tierno was about the same height as Shauna, but what he lacked in height for a guy he made up in mass. Broad across the shoulders and somewhat heavy-set, he could easily be considered a ‘bigger guy.’

“Hello.” The strength in the handshake he gave Brienne, however, told her that it was more muscle than anything else in that bulk.

“Geeze Shauna, what’d you do, drag her all the way down Main Street? I’m Calem. Nice to meet you.” Calem was tall. Six two, maybe six three, his height made Brienne crane her head up to meet deep blue eyes. She nodded at his greeting, just a bit overwhelmed and not wanting to repeat herself.

“So, what were we going to do today? Professor Sycamore won’t be sending the starter Pokémon over for another couple weeks, and I’m at a loss.” Tierno danced in his spot, seemingly unable to keep still.

Shauna rolled her eyes and poked his gut, grinning. “Show Brienne around, of course! She should get a town tour by the locals who know it best, don’t you think?”

“Oh, totally! We could take her to the sandwich shop on Main, your dad owns the place, Shauna, and we could maybe get a free lunch?” Tierno and Shauna started bouncing down the walk, tossing ideas back and forth without really looking to see if the subject of their attention was actually following.

Calem hung back, stuck between the quickly vanishing pair and the mentally shocked Brienne. “You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, fine…” She waved him off, catching up and walking by his side. “Just…are they always like that?”

Calem chuckled. “Yes, they are. Don’t ever give them caffeine; you and the surrounding town won’t like the results. Trevor’s usually here to rein Tierno in, but right now he’s in Lumiose city visiting his sister, so Shauna and Tierno are going to feed each other’s hyper-active bounce until one or the other falls over.”

“Falls over?”

“Mmmhmm. Full on face-plant with the ground. We’ve all gotten used to it.”

“Wow.” Brienne rubbed her arms, the socially awkward feeling she’d had since Shauna had dropped in from the sky and dragged her into this group of people re-emerging from behind the mild adrenaline rush. She sighed, rolling her shoulders in an attempt to get it to go away. “Okay, look, can we re-do the introductions? The Shauna version did not do anyone justice.”

Calem nodded and smiled, facing her directly. “Yeah, sure. I’m Calem Remont, eighteen years of age, and Vaniville citizen for thirteen years. How do you do?”

Brienne smiled, and reached out for a handshake. “I’m Brienne Lalonde, twenty years of age, and Vaniville citizen for all of a week. I am fine, thank you very much.”

The handshake she received was warm, firm, and to-the-point.

The day was turning out to be better than Brienne had thought.


	2. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brienne's finally starting to settle in. The world will go on without her, regardless. But there are a few good things in it that'll help her move on, and a few things that won't. Good thing she doesn't know about them yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad you're still reading, if you've made it to chapter two! That means you thought chapter one had a bit of promise! Well, for your patience, here's a bit of plot. But only a bit, I can't drop it on you all at once, can I?
> 
> Last chapter, I forgot to give credit to bulbapedia. The book summaries came straight from the basic "Pokemon" premise page. ^_^
> 
> Enjoy chapter two!!

More time went by, punctuated with Shauna knocking every day in an attempt to drag Brienne out the door to do something. Didn’t matter what. Most of the time, it was filled with Shauna talking and Brienne listening, but occasionally Brienne would say something that left Shauna thinking for a bit.

It’d been fourteen days since Brienne had arrived in Vaniville Town. The books she’d checked out from the library gave her the basics of what exactly Pokémon were, and what people did with them for the most part. It did not give her any idea on how, exactly, she had gotten here. There _was_ mention of two Pokémon that, combined, could warp space and time, but they were Legendaries—Pokémon so strong and so rare that they generally kept to themselves, and when they did come out it was to do a deity-level act—there had been no reliable report on them any later than 400 or so years ago.

Upsetting was an understatement.

Home was very far away. The stars in the sky might as well have been closer.

~*~

There was a knock on the door. Grace rinsed the soap bubbles from her hands, grabbed a hand towel and went to open the door.

“Hiya Grace! How ya doing?”

Grace smiled. Shauna, as always. She’d really gotten attached to Brienne. “I’m doing well. Did you say hi to Rhyhorn?”

“I did!” Shauna chirped. “He’s really sweet. Uhm. How’s Brienne doing? She hasn’t wanted to go for a walk for days. Did she catch a cold or something?”

Grace’s smile faltered. “How about you come in and I’ll make you a cup of tea. I want to talk with you a bit.” Grace opened the door wider and stepped back into the kitchen, pulling down two mugs.

“All right…Is it that bad?” Shauna closed the door behind her and followed, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Grace sighed. “I’m Brienne’s aunt, technically. She’s recently lost her immediate family and she had to move here. They aren’t dead,” She hurried to add at Shauna’s horrified and saddened face. “But she won’t be able to go back home for a very, very long time. She misses them.”

“Is that why she hasn’t come out lately?”

Grace put the kettle on to boil, pulling out a box of tea bags. “Somewhat. She’s always known, factually, that it would be a long while before she’d see them again. But it’s only now hitting her. She’s feeling lost.”

“Oh.” Even Shauna knew when a silence was too thick for her to break. The two women were quiet as they waited for the tea, Grace continuing to put dishes away and Shauna staring at her feet. She didn’t speak again until Grace put a mug in front of her. “Can I go see her? Maybe I can help, a little.”

Grace smiled again and nodded. “You’ve been more of a help than you know, Shauna. But yes, you can. Bring up a mug for her?”

“Can do! Thanks!” Shauna jumped out her chair and took both mugs of tea, heading for the stairs.

Grace waited until she had turned the corner, and then picked up the phone. Dialing a number she’d memorized years ago, she put the receiver to her ear.

_“Lumiose City Pokémon Labs, Professor Sycamore presiding, how may I help you?”_

“Could you put Professor Sycamore on the line? Tell him Grace Halloway wants to speak with him.”

_“Certainly! One moment please, I may have to buzz him multiple times.”_

There was a short cut of kitschy hold music, the kind that governmental pencil-pushers thought was tolerable, but was ear-grating to the rest of the world, and then a click as the line was picked up on another phone.

_“Grace? It’s wonderful to hear from you! I’d almost thought you’d forgotten about little old me. How can I help you? Do you need a bottle of perfectly aged wine? A date to a three-star restaurant?”_

Grace had almost forgotten how much of a flirt Sycamore was. Almost.

“Hello, Augustine. Thank you for the offer, but no.” She sighed. “I’ve heard that you’ve got four trainers from Vaniville all signed up to go on a journey to investigate the mysteries of Mega Evolution.”

_“Yes. How did you…?”_

“Really, Augustine? Don’t play dumb with me. Vaniville town is absolutely tiny, and Shauna only keeps her mouth shut with secrets and pranks.”

_“Ah. Yes. Of course.”_

“I’m calling in that favor. I need you to up the trainer count to five, and add Brienne Lalonde to the list. My ‘niece.’”

_“If you don’t want me to play dumb, then you’ll have to excuse this. You don’t have a niece. You don’t have siblings to get nieces and nephews from. Who is Brienne?”_

“Honestly? I don’t know completely. She knocked on my door two weeks ago only in her pjs, crying her head off, and holding two Pokémon eggs from a Gardevoir. She said she’s from somewhere called ‘The United States.’ If you ask her to get more specific she’ll say ‘Maryland. It’s a state inside the country.’ And then clam up tighter than a Cloyster. It’s like Arceus himself plucked her out of a strange land and dropped her into the Santalune forest. That’s where she described waking up, anyway.”

_“Why do you want me to do this? She doesn’t sound like someone who should be traipsing around the region.”_

“She’s just lost, Augustine. She’s twenty years old and she’s been dragged out of everything she knows into a completely different world. She didn’t even know what Pokémon were! She simply needs a purpose, and I think she’ll do well with this.”

 _“Oh, well, that’s tempting. To watch someone who hasn’t grown up at all with Pokémon? All right, now I’m curious. Hm.”_ There was the sound of paper being shuffled around in the background. _“Terrie, could you go make sure the three delta starters are ready? Yes, thank you. Ah, sorry about that Grace. Even on the phone I don’t get a minute’s peace. You said she’d do well? What makes you think this?”_

“She’s very focused and determined. If nothing else she’s got an excellent study system. She spent the first week here simply researching what Pokémon were and how this world worked with them. Also, I think she was looking for a way home, or perhaps a Pokémon that could help her, but she didn’t find that. The Aquacorde library is rather limited in its range.”

_“Ah. I see what you’re getting at. All right. I’ll add Brienne onto the list of trainers. Make sure to let her know, all right?”_

“Of course. What kind of ‘aunt’ would I be if I didn’t?”

_“Does anyone else know of this?”_

Grace shook her head, and then remembered he couldn’t see her. “No. We’ve kept up the aunt and niece cover story. If anyone breaks it, it’ll be her. It’s her choice.”

_“Of course. I will remember that when I see her. One last thing.”_

“Yes?”

_“Why are you doing this?”_

“…She asked for help.”

_“Mm. And you couldn’t say no. Right then. Expect a letter from me the day the five trainers leave. Have a good day, Grace, dear. And don’t forget I’m always free if you need a date!”_

“Good _bye_ , Augustine.” Grace hung up.

~*~

Shauna crept slowly up the stairs to the second floor; eyes locked on the tea to make sure it didn’t splash over the edge and spill everywhere. She wasn’t known for her steadiness. If it hadn’t been for Tierno giving her basic dance and yoga lessons, she’d be even more of a klutz than she was now! Therefore, it wasn’t until she got to the top of the stairs that she registered the sound her ears were catching.

An acoustic guitar. And…singing?

_“…I have kissed honey lips_  
_Felt the healing in her fingertips_  
_It burned like fire_  
_This burning desire_

_I have spoke with the tongue of angels_  
_I have held the hand of a devil_  
_It was warm in the night_  
_I was cold as a stone_

_But I still haven't found what I'm looking for_  
_But I still haven't found what I'm looking for_

_I believe in the kingdom come_  
_Then all the colors will bleed into one_  
_Bleed into one_  
_Well yes I'm still running_

_You broke the bonds and you_  
_Loosed the chains_  
_Carried the cross_  
_Of my shame_  
_Of my shame_  
_You know I believed it_

_But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…”_

Shauna tip-toed to the last door at the end of the hallway, listening quietly to the last strains of the song she didn’t recognize. When it ended, she knocked on the door softly with her foot.

“It’s open.”

“Ah, I don’t have a hand to open it with, Bri.”

“Shauna?” A discordant thunk of strings and a second later the door opened to reveal a ragged-looking Brienne. She spotted the tea mugs. “Oh let me get that. Come in, I guess.”

“…That was pretty, Bri.”

“Heh. Thanks. I don’t do the song justice, though. There are a few more instruments in the ensemble that really flesh it out.”

Shauna took a seat at the desk as she watched Brienne curl up at the head of her bed, mug in hand. She was wearing an old, threadbare t-shirt that might have been light blue in a past life, and sweatpants that had dirt stains at the hems. Two Pokémon eggs sat at the foot of the bed.

“Were you singing to the eggs?”

“Uh, yeah.” Brienne rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Grace told me that they’re probably psychic Pokémon? And that singing to them and talking to them will help them hatch faster? I’ve been doing it every night, but I haven’t seen any changes. I dunno, really. She got me the guitar when I told her I could play.”

Shauna was surprised. “Wow, every night? That’s awesome! Most people just lug them around, or leave them at Daycare centers, but what you’re doing is some pretty good dedication. I’m sure they’ll love you when they hatch!”

The other girl couldn’t summon up much enthusiasm, even if the information reassured her. “Really? Oh. That’s good.”

Shauna hated silence when it turned to an almost physical thing. She could handle natural silences at the end of conversations, or when people were falling asleep, or the silence before a prank, that was the best, but this? This hurt. It choked the throat and made the mind stumble. It wasn’t good for anyone.

“Brienne, what’s wrong?”

Brienne let out a laugh that sounded much more like a sob. “I can’t get home.”

“Your aunt told me that something happened and that you’d have to stay here a while. You’ll be able to go home soon enough.”

But Brienne was shaking her head. “I think it was a one-way trip, Shauna.”

“How’s that, then? What region are you from?”

“Really, really far away.”

“What, like Johto? Kanto?”

Brienne gave her a soft, sad smile. “Further.”

“Well, then you’ll just have to go home the way you came!” She smiled back brightly, completely unsure of how to deal with this.

“Yeah. Maybe I will.”

“All right. That’s it. No more sad face from you. C’mere.” Shauna surged up, set the tea mugs on the desk, and wrapped Brienne in the biggest hug she could muster. “Don’t make me tickle you, missy. I don’t care that you’re older than me, I will have you laughing your surrender to me in five minutes, mark my words.”

Shauna knew her idea was working. Brienne was giggling.

“Pfffhaha, all right, fine, fine. But be careful, ‘cause next time you threaten to tickle me, I will tickle back!”

“Oh yeah?”

Brienne grinned, the look brightening up her whole face and making her hazel-green eyes shine. “Promise.”

“You’re on, Bri!”

“Ha!”

There were simultaneous twin cracks from the eggs at the foot of Brienne’s bed.

~*~

Brienne spun around from teasing Shauna and stared at the twin glows from the foot of her bed. Eggs hatched, didn’t they, not turn into two lithium bright glow-lamps? Or was this just a Pokémon special, where everything was different?

“Oh, wow, talk about lucky. They’re hatching at the same time!” Shauna was entranced, eyes locked on the twin bright lights that were slowly fading, leaving behind two twin forms. “Oh my gosh, they’re adorable!”

The two baby Pokémon straightened up, rotated twin green bowl-cut hair heads, seemingly locked onto Brienne, and glomped her at the same time.

“Ralts!”

“Ralts!”

Her instinct had her cuddling and cooing at them immediately, but she was still at a loss of what to do. But she knew that her grin was matching Shauna’s, stretching across her face.

“I’ll go get Grace. You stay here. So cute!” Shauna nearly tripped over herself to get out the door, hand smacking the doorframe to catch her balance and vanishing into the hallway.

Brienne blinked down at twin baby Pokémon, who were both determined to nuzzle themselves into her middle. “Hello you two. I’m so happy to meet you.”

**_“Hi Brienne! Oh I’ve been waiting ages to do this, you’re so sad all the time.”_ **

That was a voice. In her head.

 ** _“Oh calm down. It’s just me. We’re psychic Pokémon, remember?”_** The Ralts on the left looked up and waved, the tiny mouth in a smile as large as it could go. **_“Hey, don’t go getting us confused, now, I’m a girl and this is my brother! Really, what is it with humans?”_**

“Oh, of course. The baby Pokémon straight out of their eggs can talk in my head and they already have an attitude. Right. The world can stop surprising me now, I’ve had enough.”

_ “Nope, sorry, no can do. Surprises gonna be comin’ left and right in this biatch.” _

“And one of them sounds like Dirk Strider. Yeap that confirms it. I’m in a coma and this is a dream.”

**_“Hehee. No, we just like the characters. You’ve been dreaming about Homestuck a lot lately. We…kinda cued into it? Your dreams were happier, anyway. Why’d you choose to give yourself the last name of Lalonde, anyway?”_ **

Wow. Talk about to the point. “Uhm, it’s a better last name than Smith.” She shrugged. “It just popped into my head as a good idea at the time.”

**_“Okay! Now, are you going to name us the way we want or do we have to force the issue?”_ **

“Should I expect this from every Pokémon I get?”

**_“Not really, not unless you get more psychic or part-psychic types. We’re the particular ones.”_ **

“Ah. Okay. Well then.”

Grace and Shauna chose that moment to poke their heads into the room.

“Oh wow they are adorable. Congrats, Brienne.” Grace stepped into the room and took Shauna’s chair. “Are you going to name them? It’d be difficult to tell them apart, otherwise.”

Brienne chuckled. “They named themselves. Grace, say hello to Kanaya and Dirk.”

~*~

It was three days after Kanaya and Dirk hatched that Grace sat Brienne down at the kitchen table again.

“Have you thought about becoming a Pokémon trainer?”

Brienne blinked, caught mid-swallow of her tea. It seemed that whenever Grace wanted to talk about something serious, the tea came out. Maybe she was partially British and just didn’t know it?

“A little. I’m not sure. Wander into a big wide world I know almost nothing about? Go about battling creatures with abilities that defy the laws of physics? Who wouldn’t want to do that?” She snorted dryly. “Anyway, I’ve got Kanaya and Dirk to raise.”

Grace folded her arms. “You can do that on the road. In fact, it’ll help them.”

_ “There is a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that going on a Pokémon journey will help us grow. I’m sure of it.” _

“Dirk!” Brienne shot a glare at the offending Pokémon, who had his arms folded just like Grace. “You are not Hal. Stop acting like him.”

“Eh?” As the only person not in the conversation, Grace looked between Brienne and the small Ralts with confusion.

The twenty year old sighed. “Dirk agrees with you. And if he agrees, that means he and Kanaya were talking it over. Argh.”

“Then you’re going sometime soon. You’re driving yourself into a rut here.”

“Yeah, yeah I am. All right. You all win.” She threw her arms up into the air, letting her head thunk onto the table. “When do I leave?” Her voice was muffled, face almost pressed into the kitchen table.

Grace waved it off. “In a couple days. I’ll help you pack. Don’t worry about it.”

Brienne lifted her head and stared. “The last time someone said ‘don’t worry about it,’ I found myself running through a closed park in the middle of the night to get away from the cops. That does not reassure me.”

“Really?”

“I had odd friends.”

~*~

“Brienne, it’s time to get up!!” Grace yelled through the bedroom door. Brienne herself snorted, groaned, and moaned herself awake as she rolled out of bed. The world was fuzzy blur as she stumbled into the bathroom, relieved herself, and zombie-shuffled right back out of it and down the stairs. Grace, having gotten used to this routine, already had a mug of coffee waiting.

Kanaya and Dirk watched the display with something akin to morbid curiosity.

**_“How are we going to wake her up in the mornings on the road?”_ **

_ “Smuppets.” _

**_“There aren’t any smuppets here, Dirk.”_ **

_ “You could help me sew a few?” _

**_“Neither of us sew, either. Do you see these fingers holding needle and thread? Do you?”_ **

“I can hear both of you thinking at each other, you know that right?” Brienne called out over her cup of coffee.

_ “It’s a valid question.” _

“Oh for heaven’s…” She rolled her eyes. “It’s called instant coffee. Tastes horrible but has caffeine. _Pokémon.”_ She rolled her eyes but smiled, handing the cup back to Grace. “Be right back.”

“No problem. Dress smartly today, Brienne!”

“’Kay!” Came the reply from up the stairs.

Brienne came back down the stairs ten minutes later, dressed in a bright blue t-shirt with a black button up blouse on over it, buttoned half-way, and dark dyed jeans covered her legs, flaring at the bottom, hiding lace-up boots.

Grace handed her a large ham sandwich on a plate. “Here, you’re gonna want to eat on the way. Shauna and Calem are already waiting outside for you.”

“What? Already! It can’t be ten already…” A quick glance at the oven clock confirmed ten-fifteen. “Ah, bugger. Thanks Grace. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Take your time. I’ll see you when you get back.”

Brienne attempted to shove half the sandwich in her mouth and dashed out the door.

“About time, sleepyhead! I thought I was going to have to go in there and get you! And waking you up is one thing I don’t ever want to do ever again. I didn’t think it was possible for a human to act like an angry Druddigon when you woke them up.” Calem snarked.

Brienne made a muffled attempt at replying through the sandwich in her mouth.

Calem rolled his eyes. “Brienne. Chew, _slowly,_ swallow, and then talk. Honestly. Why am I the one with the common sense around here?”

Brienne folded her arms and glared at him. The effect was ruined by her overenthusiastic chewing and careful swallowing. “I’ve plenty of common sense. You just haven’t seen it yet.”

“Uh-huh. Riiiight. C’mon, we’re already late because someone decided that they can’t wake up unless they have coffee.”

“Calem I swear to god one day I will find the perfect opportunity to shove my foot up your bum.”

“I’m flattered.”

“Arrrrrgh!”

“Awww, Bri, don’t be frustrated, it just means he knows he’ll lose.” Shauna tackle-glomped the shorter girl, nearly knocking her off her feet in her enthusiasm.

“Haha, yeah you’re right.” Brienne smirked at him.

“Hey! Shauna, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Nope, sorry Calem. Not today!” She giggled, dragging the shorter girl to the town gates.

~*~

Grace slipped the used coffee cup into the sink, letting it fall under the water and suds. Drying off her hands, she sighed, closing her eyes and seemingly gathering herself mentally.

“Dirk, Kanaya, could you come here for a moment?”

The twins looked at the other for a moment before levitating themselves to the kitchen counter.

Grace smiled. “Thanks. Now, I know you understand me, even if you won’t talk to me. Brienne said something about imprinting on trainers?”

They both nodded.

“Ah. Right. Speaking of trainers, you know you’re gonna have to travel around in pokéballs, right?”

The Ralts on the right—Grace thought it was Dirk—raised his hand and wiggled it in a ‘so-so’ motion.

“You two have a plan then. Okay. Last bit then. You know Brienne’s not from here.” They nodded once. “You know just exactly how she’s not from here. I hope you two can protect her.”

The two put their hands together and started to glow. Grace gasped as a singular voice rang in her head.

**_ “Always.” _ **

~*~

“Okay, so you said Tierno and Trevor would be here already?” Brienne started scanning over the heads of the people sitting in the Aquacorde courtyard, looking for the interestingly styled head of hair that was Tierno. He was nice, if always excited. Not at all clumsy though, not like Shauna.

“Yeah, they said they’d wait for us at the Café.” Shauna, with her extra few inches of height, peered easily over the heads of most people. It didn’t help that she was using Brienne as an armrest. Calem laughed.

“Foot. Up your butt so far you’ll taste leather.”

“Uh-huuuuuh. Keep telling yourself that Brienne. I totally believe you.”

“Mmmnnrrph.”

“There they are! I see them! C’mon guys, stop arguing and get moving!” Shauna bounced off.

“Coming, Shauna!” Both Calem and Brienne called.

The three sat down, Shauna forcing Brienne and Calem to sit together after taking the seat at the head of the table. There was much grumbling and elbowing.

“You must be Brienne. Tierno told me about you. I’m Trevor.” Brienne turned to Trevor and blinked, taking the proffered hand. Trevor looked shorter than she was. Not by much, mind you, but still shorter. And he had the brightest orange hair she had ever seen on a person.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.”

Tierno snapped his fingers. “Hey, why don’t we give Brienne a nickname?”

“Ahh…” Brienne turned pink.

“She already has one, it’s Bri.” Shauna stated, glaring sharply at Tierno, who shrank back at the look.

“Oooohkaaaay….”

“Hey, how ‘bout we get down to business. Professor Sycamore gave me the three starter Pokémon and asked me to let you choose which one you want.” Trevor placed three pokéballs on the table in a neat line.

“Wait, three?” Brienne blinked. “Professor Sycamore doesn’t know about me. And I’ve already got a couple Pokémon.”

“Your, ah, aunt? She called Professor Sycamore about a week ago and told him you wanted to travel. It was perfect timing, really. Tierno and I already have somewhat experienced Pokémon, and neither of us want to go for the gym challenges. You three, on the other hand, fit the bill perfectly.” Trevor explained, hands constantly rebalancing the pokéballs so they didn’t roll away.

“She did? Oh…” She trailed off, unsure of what to make of it. One part of her was surprised, another grateful, and a third a little annoyed that she had made a decision for her so early.

“Okay, so you three ready? Your choices are Froakie, a water type, it will evolve into something called Frogadier, and then later Greninja, a water/dark Pokémon.

Second is Fennekin, a fire type that will then evolve into Braixen, and then into Delphox, a fire/psychic type.

Third is Chespin, a grass type that will evolve into Quilladin, and then Chesnaught, a grass/fighting type. Choose, and choose well, because you’ll be working with this Pokémon for a very long time.”

Shauna nudged her. “Bri, you want to go first?”

“Yeah.” She stared at the three pokéballs, thinking back to what her Ralts had told her. “I think I’ll go with Fennekin.” She took the pokéball in the center, weighing it in her hand. “Yeah. Fennekin’s mine.”

“Awesome, Bri! I’ll take the Chespin!” She blinked, then noticed Calem. “If that’s alright with you, Calem?”

“Yeah, no problem. I really wanted a water type, anyway.”

“Are you gonna nickname your Fennekin, Bri?” Tierno asked, giving her a smile.

“Mmm. Yeah, I will, but not just yet. I want a chance to go home and talk it over with Fennekin and my Ralts. I’ve heard psychic types are picky with their names.”

“Cool! You’re really getting comfortable with your Pokémon already, and you haven’t even left yet!”

“I guess I am.” She smiled.

“Pardon, all.” Trevor interrupted. “There’s one more thing I want to give you. It’ll help you understand your Pokémon on a deeper level, and help the Professor learn about the Pokémon in this region.” Out of his side-bag came five slim, smart-phone sized tablets. “They’re the newest version of the Pokédex. And it’s also my personal mission to see as many Pokémon as possible and fill this thing up.”

Brienne took the one closest to her. “Okay, now this is awesome. Nice tech!”

Trevor nodded. “It automatically records all the Pokémon you encounter, and gets even more detailed information on Pokémon you catch.”

“Looks like they’ve compacted it some more. I’ve seen my mom’s Pokédex, and it’s maybe three times this size?” Calem compared, weighing it in his hand. “And it’s touch-screen? Sweet.”

“Oh, speaking of sweet!” Tierno went shuffling into his bag. “The Professor wanted me to give you this, Bri, to hand to your aunt.”

“A letter?” She blinked at the colored paper. “Oh my god…it’s scented. He’s flirting with her.” She groaned. “Please tell me he’s not a wrinkled old man.”

Shauna giggled. “Nope. He’s not that old.”

“Oh thank you god.”

“All right, we’re gonna head off.” Tierno and Trevor stood. “Day’s wastin’, and there are a load of Pokémon to go see, and Santalune City is most of a day’s walk from here. We’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, sure, we’ll catch up. Have fun.” Calem waved. The two practically dashed out the Aquacorde gates towards route two.

“All right, I think I’m gonna head out into Santalune forest. Maybe see you two there?” Calem stood and pushed in his chair.

Shauna nodded. “Yeap! Later Calem!”

He nodded once to Brienne and headed out at much more sedate pace compared to the first two.

“ _Smoooooth,_ Calem.” Brienne rolled her eyes.

“What’s _with_ you and him. You can’t have a conversation without arguing.” The taller girl huffed, hands on her hips.

Brienne shrugged. “He just rubs me the wrong way. _Whhhhhhy_ does he have to be hot as well?” She whined.

“Oh my god, is this your version of pigtail pulling, isn’t it? Isn’t it?” She teased, as Brienne’s face got redder and redder.

“Sweetheart, you’re the one with pigtails.”

“Ah-huh.”

Brienne huffed. “So he’s hot! That doesn’t mean I like him. I just appreciate the eye candy.”

“Right.”

“Dammit, Shauna…”

“All right, I’ll drop it. But you’ve got to battle me instead.”

“What?” She spluttered. “But I just got Fennekin! I haven’t even nicknamed it yet!”

Shauna grumbled. “Fine. Go home, give your aunt the letter, nickname your Fennekin, and then meet me back here and we’ll battle. Got it?”

“Oh yeah. I’m looking forward to it. Just give me a little time.”

Shauna nodded. “Okay.”

“See you soon!” Brienne turned on her heel for route one and Vaniville town.

~*~

“Hey, Grace, I’m back!”

The older lady craned her head over the couch, where there was a small disaster area spread around her, both Ralts poking through the wreckage.

“That was fast. I wasn’t expecting you for another hour, at least.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got a letter for you from Professor Sycamore, and I wanted to pick up Dirk and Kanaya. Though, I don’t have pokéballs for them…”

“I took care of that. They’re sitting on the side-table by the door.”

“Oh, thanks.” She caught sight of the entire mess. “What in heaven are you doing?”

“Making sure you have everything you might need on your trip. Some of the cities in Kalos are pretty cold all year round, and you’ll need a first-aid kit, and camping gear, and the twins wanted to help. It got a little messy.” She shrugged. Her mother had done this for her when she went on her journey. She never thought she’d get to do it for anyone, after a while.

Brienne was stunned. “Thank you so much.”

Grace smiled. “It was my pleasure.  Now, I think I’ve got everything in the camping pack. Can I see the letter?”

“Oh, sure!” She pulled it out of her back pocket, grimacing. “I think he’s flirting with you. The paper’s scented.”

Grace laughed. “Yes, yes he is flirting with me. I’ve got history with Augustine, and it’s just in his nature to flirt with most women. It’s harmless. He does know the meaning of no. It’s mostly kind-hearted compliments, nothing more.”

“Oh, okay. I was…worried for a bit.” Brienne rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and check out the camper pack, make sure it’s comfortable on your shoulders. I’ll be right with you as soon as I read this.”

“’Kay Grace. Hey, guys, guess what!”

Grace tuned out the one-sided happy chattering as she opened the purple-hued letter, taking a moment to admire the elegant handwriting. Augustine always did go all-out for her. It made her wonder why she married Jack in the first place, especially now. Maybe she could reconsider her feelings? After all, Augustine still flirted. Jack had vanished off the face of the earth.

Thoughts for another time.

_Dear Grace,_

_After our phone call I set aside a few things and did some research. Well, I call it research, it was more like wading through knee-deep lies to hunt tiny, tiny kernels of truth in months of news articles. That, and a few discrete calls to the other Pokémon professors around the world. We try to keep in contact, in case one of us goes accidentally missing for some reason or another. It has happened._

_There have been reports of Dialga and Palkia sightings in the last four, three years, with the most recent in Alamos Town, two years ago. These two Pokémon have been considered gods in the past, and have the ability to warp time and space. Little is known about them, and most of the information is quarantined in Alamos Town itself. All I was able to discover is that there was a space-time warp anomaly and both Pokémon appeared and started to fight. The whole town nearly vanished from existence. There were a few names mentioned, a small-tenured professor local to the town, a civilian, and a Trainer named Ash Ketchum._

_Ash Ketchum has been mentioned multiple times in regards to legendary Pokémon. His patron professor, Samuel Oak, has tried his hardest to keep Ash’s name out of the news, and has been very successful. But he can’t keep Ash’s name out of the science reports, or the gossip gym leaders occasionally share. Wherever Ash goes, legends follow. The strongest example of this is the Shamouti Islands. Oak could not stop that from making the news. The Kanto region nearly sank. I tried to find out more, but Professor Oak is very protective of this trainer. Each time I tried to dig deeper; he blocked my path, regardless of the fact that we are both professors._

_If Brienne is from a completely different world like you’ve suggested, Dialga and Palkia are most likely involved. If they are involved, expect Brienne to encounter them again and Ash Ketchum as well._

_I am a Pokémon Professor, Grace. My tools of the trade are logic and empirical evidence. But the longer I am a professor, the more things I find about Pokémon that are impossible to prove with the Scientific Method. The more this happens, the more superstitious I become, simply to keep from going mad at my results. Perhaps I am looking at it all from the wrong angle. I do not know._

_I find myself at a loss for words. I know you were hoping for good news, so you could get Brienne home sooner. You have my sympathy. But I do not think that is going to happen any time soon. She is on a one-way trip for a head-on collision with destiny. I can only hope she comes out of it unharmed. There are those who haven’t._

_I will keep an eye on Brienne, more so than I usually would for a trainer battling through Kalos. For both your peace of mind, and security, for when the time is right._

_My fondest wishes and regards,  
                                                                                                Augustine Sycamore_

 

“Oh, _Brienne…_ ” Grace whispered, the blood drained from her face. “I am so sorry…”

For a moment, Grace considered renting an apartment in Lumiose City, simply to keep closer to any possible route Brienne could be on. It was the region capital, and the hub of all travel. It would make moving in an emergency easier.

She would call the first two gym leaders, first. Ask them to keep an eye out for her, and ask for progress. If Brienne struggled, then she would. It happened. Trainers left home for the eight-gym challenge, only made it four or five gyms, and then quit, for whatever reason. Brienne most likely did not have that luxury.

And as for researching Ash Ketchum, well, there was more than one way to pluck a Delibird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song lyrics are from "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. Look'em up, if you haven't heard of them. 
> 
> We welcome Dirk and Kanaya, our twin Ralts! In Homestuck, (for those of you who have no idea whatsoever) Kanaya considers herself extremely graceful and composed, but is really just a dork(and uses a chainsaw to fight). Dirk considers himself a master in irony, sick moves, and robotics. Like Kanaya, he's really just an awkward dork. We love him anyway.
> 
> Chapter three will be posted whenever I get more buffer written! Kudos and comments are great for inspiration!


	3. The City of the Sainted Moon of the Forest, Otherwise Known as Santalune.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walking, walking, and more walking. Hey, maybe she'd try trudging for a change! See also: Lots and lots of tall grass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter three. I figured I might as well post after nearly a month of a break.  
> Writing buffer is harder than you think, I'm suffering from a little bit of writer's fatigue. My beta/first fan of this fic told me I should probably rewrite a couple scenes. Getting to that soon. 
> 
> Here's chapter three, where we finally get somewhere, thank god!

“Hey, guys, guess what!”

The newly-minted trainer bounced into the lounge, pokéball in hand and smile on her face.

_ “Pigs can fly.” _

Brienne froze in place, thoughts face-planting into a brick wall. “Oh my god, Dirk, really?”

_ “You told me to guess. So I did.” _

“Well, yes, but the normal response to ‘guess what’ is a ‘what’ response, because it’s the expected response in polite company and…why am I expecting that kind of response out of you?”

_ “I have no idea.” _

Brienne face-palmed. “Why do I even try?”

**_“Brienne, you had something to tell us?”_ **

“Oh, yeah, I’ve got another Pokémon! I’d thought I’d introduce you and have you help me name it?”

“ ** _How come?”_**

She grinned. “You’ll see. Come on out, Fennekin!”

A flash of light from the pokéball coalesced onto the floor, forming quickly into the small Fire Fox Pokémon. “Fen. Kin! Fennekin!”

Fennekin was adorable. Brienne could feel her blood sugar levels going up just by looking at it. Large, bright red-orange eyes centered in a rounded head, huge triangular ears with tuffs of dark orange fur sticking out, and pure white ‘cheek tuffs’. Its body was mainly a tan-yellow, and its tail was fluffy, tipped at the end with the same dark orange fur its ears had. The part of her that still dressed up in pink dresses and hair bows was already cooing and itching to cuddle the thing within an inch of its life.

“Okay, guys, Trevor said that Fennekin eventually evolves into a fire/psychic type, so I didn’t want to name…Him?” She eyed Fennekin.

Fennekin, paying sharp attention to the topic of his name, yipped what seemed to be an affirmative.

“Right, I didn’t want to name him something he wouldn’t like later, and then be able to tell me about it, greatly, at length, once he evolved into a Delphox. I value my skin very much, thank you.”

Both Dirk and Kanaya giggled in her head, and Fennekin seemed to grin, his tail wagging.

“Oh geeze, you’re adorable. All right, so, uhm, what exactly do you want to be named? I’ve got an idea or two, but it’s completely up to you.” She sat down, cross-legged, couch at her back.

Fennekin gave Kanaya a look and a shrug. **_“He said he wants to hear what you have, first. But please, nothing cutesy. He said, specifically, ‘I’m going to be badass when I’m a Delphox.’”_**

“Badass, huh?” The girl snorted, running a hand through her hair. “Right then. Pretty sure this one won’t be it, but, Moz? Short for Mozilla?”

Fennekin shook his head, an emphatic ‘no.’

“Okaaay…” Yeah she was pretty sure that one wouldn’t have worked. It was mildly cruel, anyway, to name him after an internet browser from back home. “Hm. What do Delphox look like anyway…” She pulled out her Pokédex, typing it into the search browser. “It should be here already, the final evolved form of a starter Pokémon isn’t a mystery for the ages. Ah!” She stared. “Well, you weren’t kidding when you said you’d be badass.”

Kanaya stepped up again. **_“He says, ‘Of course I wouldn’t! Final forms are serious things for most Pokémon. And you’ve already got two Ralts. I’ve got to have a badass name if I’m even going to make an impression after what these two can do, later.’ Oh. Well. Thank you.”_**

Brienne was concentrating on the photo in the Pokédex. “Magic wand…robe-like fur…fire type…” She grinned, hard, one that promised trouble. “How about Dresden?”

**_“’Dresden? Why that?’”_ **

“There’s a character in a set of stories back where I’m from, a wizard that has a habit of using fire to solve his problems, and things tend to explode around him. Makes some other characters a bit intimidated of what he’ll do next.”

Fennekin—now Dresden—yipped a happy affirmative, tail wagging hard.

**_“He’ll take it.”_ **

“Awesome. C’mere. I’ve named you, mind if I cuddle you?” Please, please, please!

Dresden barked and leapt into her arms, nuzzling his nose into her neck.

Brienne squeaked and smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of Dresden’s head. “Welcome to the family, Dresden.”

There was a bit of shuffling as two sock-clad feet came into view. “Named him, I see. Dresden sounds like a solid name.” Grace rolled a camping mat out of the way and sat cross-legged on the floor, facing the happy Fennekin and trainer.

“Yeah. It is. I’m enjoying this. I really am.” Brienne looked up at Grace and seemed to relax, the pained crinkles at the corner of her eyes easing. “And I’ve been here…less than a month? I almost don’t know what to make of all this. How did I get this lucky?” There was a quickly growing warmth in the pit of her stomach that reminded her of hot chocolate and sinking into the pillow pile she had at home.

Grace placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re supposed to feel like this.”

The girl nodded, coming back to herself and looking around at the mess. “So you said something about helping me pack? I owe Shauna a battle with Dresden here, and then we were hoping to get through Santalune Forest tonight. Hey, you up for a battle, Dresden?” She looked down at the fox in her arms.

Dresden yipped an affirmative, his tail wagging hard enough to shake his body.

Grace smiled, and Brienne thought for a moment that it looked relieved. “I did. You’re going to need to pack light, and mail home things that you buy, afterwards. Trust me, you’re going to be buying a lot. And!” She pulled out a device from behind a couch pillow that looked like something between a watch and an iPod. “You’ll need this. It’s a Holo Caster. It got released last year. It’ll help you keep in contact with me, and anyone else you might want to call, and it’ll get regular newscasts. Extremely useful when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, let me tell you.”

“Thank you, Grace.” Brienne quickly strapped it around her left wrist.

~*~

Aquacorde Town stood quietly at the edge of a sparkling river in the noon sunlight as Brienne approached it from Route One. Shauna stood, propping up one side of the town gate with her back as she waited for her opponent to return.

Brienne trotted up to her, backpack and guitar case slowing her down. “Were you waiting for me here the whole time, hun?”

Shauna shook her head and grinned. “Nah. This is just a good place for people watching.”

“Riiiiiiight. Because I totally believe you.”

The pig-tailed girl glared. “Hey! I can so people watch!” She huffed, stomping her foot. “That’s it. Are you ready to battle?”

“Yeah. Let’s do this. Here?” The Route One gate was relatively absent of people, and open enough that a short battle shouldn’t do any damage.

Though it might catch attention.

“Not gonna let you push this off any longer. Yeap, here!” Shauna waved her back. “Ten steps back, and get ready!” The two girls quickly counted out the space, eyes locked.

Brienne popped the middle pokéball off the belt Grace had given her and pressed the center button, expanding it to the size of a baseball. She hefted it once in her hand to get a feel for the weight of it and rolled her shoulders as the moment settled on her. Her grin was sharp enough to cut, the pokéball flying through the air.

“Let’s go, Dresden. We’re doing this man!”

As the small fire-fox Pokémon appeared in a flash of white light, she ‘heard’ Kanaya groan and Dirk laugh from their pokéballs.

_ “Yes. Hell yes. Hell fucking yes. That is your catchphrase from now on.” _

**_“If you must.”_ **

_ “She must. Oh, irony at its best.” _

Dresden barked a laugh.

“Go, Chester!” Shauna lightly tossed the ball in the air, the Chespin appearing in a similar flash, promptly settling into a fighting stance.

“Ches, ches!”

“Right, Chester, start off with growl!” Shauna threw out a finger with the command. The Chespin took a deep breath and started to rumble deep in its chest. If it was any bigger, the sound would have been threatening. At this size, it was just cute and sounded more like a purr than an aggressive growl.

Dresden shivered a little bit, then shook his head to get rid of the feeling.

“Cute, Shauna!” Brienne was gonna bring the trash talk, if anyone had the guts to challenge her. “Ember, Dresden! Toast that hedgehog!”

The fox tensed, the air around its ears shimmering with heat before he opened his mouth and spat little globs of flame, some of which landed promptly on Chespin, who hadn’t thought to dodge. The grass hedgehog yelped and rubbed at the burns.

Shauna winced in sympathy. “You can do it, Chester! Tackle!”

The hedgehog grit its teeth and charged, spines pointed forward.

“Dresden, dodge and ember again! Right in its face if you can.”

Dresden leapt out of the way of Chester’s charge, and his slow-down skid pulled up dust and grit as he spat sparks rapid-fire into his opponent. Chester tripped out of its run as the embers hit, curling up and whining as its weakness to fire attacks piled up and took down any will it had to fight.

“Ooooh, Chester…! All right, that’s it, return!” Shauna aimed her pokéball and the red return light flashed, zapping the Chespin back into the ball and away from the Pokémon that liked to spit fire at it. “You win, Bri. Good battle!”

Brienne nodded and smiled. “Yeah, good battle. I’m happy you were my first battle.” She knelt down and patted Dresden on the head, scratching right behind the ears. “Good job, little dude. You did well.”

Dresden yipped and nosed her hand before returning to his pokéball.

“So, uh…Winner of a Pokémon battle always gets a cash prize from the loser.” Shauna rubbed her head, pulling out a wad of cash from her pocket.

“What, seriously?” Brienne stood. “But we’re friends, you don’t need to pay me for beating you…”

Shauna shrugged. “It’s generally how things go around here, and it helps travelling trainers pay for potions and the like.” She blinked. “Looks like someone forgot the Basic Trainer’s Guide?”

“Ahhh…Yeah I did. I’ll pick one up in the next town.” Yeah, great excuse. Perfect cover. She’d run with that as long as she could and pick one up in Santalune.

“Haha, it’s cool Bri. You’ll do fine. Now, here. You won this fair and square.” Shauna placed the tightly folded bills in one of Brienne’s hands and wrapped the other hand around the first. “This should get you a couple Potions and a pokéball.”

Brienne pocketed the cash. It’d be rude to count it now, and her wallet was somewhere in the depths of her pack.

“I’ll catch up with you on Route Two. See you later, Bri!!” Shauna grabbed her in a monster hug, completely regardless for how ready Brienne might have been for it.

Now, Shauna was five feet, nine inches tall. Brienne, only five feet _four_ inches. The difference meant that Brienne was promptly shoved face-first into Shauna’s chest. There was never a moment where she hated and loved the fact that she was so damn short. _Why_ did Shauna have to be so damn cute, and so damn affectionate?

Okay, no. She was twenty years old. She was an adult. It did not matter that Shauna was nineteen, or that Brienne thought she was cute enough to kiss, cuddle, and possibly do other things with; _she would not perv on her new best friend._ That was so breaking the friend code.  
Oh god why couldn’t she get the heat to leave her face? Better yet, why wouldn’t Shauna let her go? Yes, hugs are awesome, but did she not realize the marshmallow hell going on here?

“Hey, Shauna…” It came out more like, ‘hhhhe, on-na!’ “Let me go?”

“Oh, yeah, sure!” She giggled and released the shorter girl. “Bye!”

Brienne dashed off before her red face could give her away.

Route Two, coming right up. There would be grass, and trees, and the occasional Pokémon to encounter. No hot best friends who just gave her a very pleasant, very soft marshmallow hell. Nope. None at all.

She could hear Kanaya and Dirk snickering in their pokéballs. It wasn’t funny.

~*~

When they said tall grass, they really meant tall grass. Holy hell, did someone drop half of the Midwest into Pokémon world? Was it like this all over the place, or was it just the path to Santalune forest? Argh.

Brienne stumbled, and disturbed her third pidgey. She was so glad they weren’t spearow. Grace had told her stories about spearow, and just how legendary their temper was.

A push through a particularly thick clump of tall grass had the new trainer faceplanting onto a clear chunk of worn path and the dark colored boots of another traveler.

“You can’t spend your whole journey faceplanting into the ground, Brienne. It makes a bad impression, especially _on_ your face. Maybe someone should stay with you, make sure you don’t flatten that cute nose?” Calem leaned down and wrapped an arm around Brienne’s shoulders, pulling her up.

“Thank you very much, Calem, but no, I do believe I can handle myself.” She huffed and patted herself down, brushing away stray dirt from her clothes. “I’m fine.”

He stared down at her for a moment. God _damn_ why did everyone have to be taller than she was? “Right. Do you even know how to catch wild Pokémon?” He folded his arms.

No, no she didn’t. “I’m sure I can figure it out.”

“Uh-huh.” Calem raised one eyebrow.

Dirk and Kanaya, ever the kind audience, sent Brienne a mental image of the two of them eating popcorn. Such loyal Pokémon they were.

“I do not need my hand held. I am twenty years old.” The young woman huffed again and folded her arms, matching his stance. Shauna, she liked. Shauna was awesome. Calem, after that first day of kind politeness, had turned the sarcasm meter up to eleven.

“And that last statement wonderfully proves my point. C’mon, I’ll show you how it’s done.” He turned sharply on his heel and strode straight into the next large clump of tall grass.

Brienne stared.

“Hurry up! I know you’re short, Brienne, but I promise the tall grass won’t eat you.”

Oh, that was so it. When she battled him, she was gonna hand him and his Pokémon their asses on a silver platter like she was the best goddamn butler on Butler Island.

She stormed after him, stomping into the grass.

So maybe it was a bit easier to make her way through the brush if she stepped where he had already pushed the greenery away. She wasn’t going to tell him that. Nope.

The two pushed their way into the scruff, Calem keeping an eye out for a potential easy-to-catch Pokémon. Brienne just kept close to Calem’s tail.

Calem suddenly stopped in his tracks and Brienne bumped into his back, having locked her eyes on where she was going instead of her guide.

“Hey!” Calem looked over his shoulder. “Careful. You’ll startle it.”

Brienne huffed. “I thought that was the point.”

“Only with a Pokémon.” He gestured. “If it only sees a human it’ll run.”

Brienne craned her head about the great road-block that was Calem and peered through the tall grass. Curled into a small ball and dozing, it honestly looked like a black and grey extra-large caterpillar. She pulled out her slim, sleek Pokédex, pointing the camera straight at the bug.

_“Scatterbug, the Scatterdust Pokémon. When under attack from bird Pokémon, it spews a poisonous black powder that causes paralysis on contact.”_

The sound from the Pokédex made the Scatterbug stir, unwinding from its coil and blinking sleepily.

“Time to get down to business.” Calem grinned. “Watch and learn.” A pokéball quickly expanded into his hand and he chucked it straight at the Scatterbug.

White light flashed and a Fletchling soared out, calling challenge to the sky.

Brienne watched the Fletchling soar, a small smile growing on her face.

“Okay Fletchling, time to show off! Peck attack!”

Fletchling nosedived in, its beak glowing bright. The Scatterbug squeaked and tried to dodge, getting up and squirming away on six miniscule legs. The peck attack made contact, and the Scatterbug bounced with the hit. It curled up defensively, motes of black powder puffing into the air.

“Don’t get too close, Fletchling. That powder will have you on the ground in seconds. Growl!” Calem commanded, left hand pulling out an empty pokéball.

The little flying type hovered above the caterpillar, glared and let out a much more intimidating growl than the Chespin Brienne and Dresden had battled earlier did. The poor Scatterbug shivered.

“All right. The thing about catching wild Pokémon is that you have to weaken them before catching them. Like so!” He threw the pokéball, and it sucked the Scatterbug in on contact.

The three of them stared intently, the Fletchling flying in circles around the twitching pokéball. It shook once, twice, three times, and then chimed softly as the Scatterbug gave up the fight.

Calem smiled and went to retrieve his new Scatterbug. “Good job, Fletchling. You’re getting faster.” The Fletchling chirped and landed on Calem’s shoulder. “Last thing you should know. Weakening a Pokémon is a great way to catch them, but knocking them out is not. For some reason, the pokéballs won’t accept an unconscious Pokémon. So be careful on how hard you attack a Pokémon you want to catch.”

Brienne nodded, committing it to memory.

“Do you _have_ any empty pokéballs, Brienne?”

“Aaaah…no.”

Calem sighed, and dug into his pack. “Here. I bought a bunch back in Aquacorde town. You can have these, but you’ll need to buy more later.” He shoved ten shrunken pokéballs into Brienne’s hands. “And remember to train all your Pokémon, not just the ones you have on you. A Trainer can only carry six Pokémon at a time, and you’ve already got three on you. You can switch them out at any Pokémon Center. Got it?”

“Yeah.” Brienne nodded, dropping the empty ‘balls into her own pack. “Thanks, Calem.”

He tilted his head, eyes softening. “Are you sure you’re gonna be all right out here? Most of this stuff preschoolers know.”

“I’ll be fine!” She smiled, realizing that Calem was keeping an eye out for her in his own way. “I handled myself perfectly well when Dresden defeated Shauna’s Chespin.”

“Dresden?”

“My Fennekin. He’s determined to be absolutely badass, so sayeth my translator Ralts, Kanaya.” Brienne giggled. “My Pokémon are absolute characters, and I only have three!”

Calem chuckled. “Okay. I’ll see you in Santalune City. Hope you can make it there by nightfall!”

Calem jogged off as his Fletchling took flight, his form quickly disappearing into the tall grass.

“Well.” Brienne took a quick mental stock. “Santalune Forest is to the north. Best get truckin’, ‘cause it’s already…” She took a quick peek at her wristwatch. “Two p.m. Well. Bugger.”

She started aggressively pushing her way through the tall grass.

~*~

The gates of Santalune City were still open when Brienne arrived in the early evening gloom. She groaned to herself and dragged her feet into the city limits and their brick-paved streets.

She flopped almost boneless onto the first bench she saw, her camper pack falling from her shoulders. She’d made it through Santalune forest, and what felt to her as the gauntlet of wild Pokémon, random trainers with loads and loads of Pokémon, and tall grass. Lots and lots and lots of tall grass. She was learning to hate grass. It was _not_ fair that it went up to her hips and made walking a continuous battle. It really wasn’t.

She then thought about how Shauna, Tierno, and Calem were all giants and that the grass didn’t slow them down.

How in the hell did Trevor do it, travelling from Lumiose City to Aquacorde all the time? He was shorter than she was! She would learn his secrets, she decided, pulling herself off the bench.

Her first stop would be the Pokémon Center. If there was one thing _‘So You Want To Be A Pokémon Trainer’_ had hammered into her head, it was that Pokémon Centers were a godsend. She cast her eyes to the rooftops of the small city and almost immediately spotted the red-orange rooftop that signified the place of healing for any and all comers.

Free health care! _Free health care!!_ This world that had creatures that could manipulate the forces of nature at a thought, had no massive, region-spanning wars in at least three decades, also had free. Health. Care. She’d hit a library while she was here, figure out how they did it, and then figure out a way home and hit all the world leaders upside the head with this method. Screw you insurance companies and Obamacare. Screw you into the nearest black hole. This was totally the way to go.

Brienne hummed as the doors to the Pokémon Center whooshed open. The sound reminded her a bit of the doors from Star Trek. It made the geek in her squeal in delight. When she had more energy she’d come back and play open and close with the doors.

There was a woman in a pristine nurse’s outfit at the front desk. “Welcome to Santalune City Pokémon Center. I’m Nurse Joy. How may I help you?” She smiled, her voice soft and cheerful and all of a sudden Brienne felt all the knots in her shoulders just fall away.

“I just came out of Santalune Forest, and my team and I are exhausted. Do you think you could get them in line for a healing session?” Exhausted didn’t even cover it. Brienne had run into more rookie trainers like herself than wild Pokémon and, while they had been relatively easy to defeat individually, had taken a toll on her Pokémon as the day wore on. And Pichu were ridiculously fast.

At least she had a wallet full of cash from beating all those trainers.

Nurse Joy beamed. “No waiting necessary! Just hand me your pokéballs and I’ll have your team healed in a jiffy!”

Brienne blinked, wordlessly handing over her three Pokémon in surprise. She didn’t even have to wait? She was going to get very spoiled here.

“And, uhm, where can I sign up for the Kalos Pokémon League? My aunt said to sign up here, but she wasn’t specific…”

“Oh that’s not a problem at all.” Nurse Joy waved a hand in the air. “I can sign you up. Let me just heal your Pokémon.” The nurse placed the three balls on a platform designed for six, flicking a switch and lighting it up. What seemed to be stock images of Brienne’s Pokémon came up on the large LED screen above the main desk. The platform hummed as it worked for another thirty seconds before it turned itself off.  “Your Pokémon are all healed, here you are Miss.”

Brienne reattached the pokéballs to her belt. “I’m Brienne Lalonde.”

Joy blinked in surprise, giving Brienne a wider, casual smile. “Hello, Brienne. Now let me get you signed up for the League. If I may see your Pokédex?”

“Oh, sure! Uhm…” Brienne dropped the camper pack from her shoulders again and shuffled around in a side pocket, pulling out the slim device and handed it to the nurse.

“Thank you.” She tapped a few buttons on the screen, waited for a beep, and then typed something into the desktop on the counter. “Lalonde with an ‘e’?”

“Mmmhmm.” Brienne nodded.

“Home town?”

“Freder…” Brienne mentally slapped herself. She wasn’t really anywhere near home. “Vaniville Town.”

Nurse Joy caught her stutter, but dismissed it. “Just moved, huh? It can be a little hard to break habit.”

“Yeah, I haven’t been here all that long. Aunt Grace thought it’d be a great way for me to get used to the region this way.” Yeap. Biggest damn move of her life, this was. Forget about college.

“I hope you enjoy your journey around Kalos.” She handed back the Pokédex. “You’re all signed up! The Window of Opportunity to challenge the Elite Four and Champion will open June first 2015, and close again that September, so you have a whole year to get around the region, and even sight-see a bit. Plenty of time.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Brienne slipped the Pokédex into her jean pocket. She’d do a little research on the Pokémon she encountered in the forest later, and charge her Pokédex.

“League challengers have board in Pokémon Centers free, and highly discounted meals in the commissary.” She pointed to a sign on a nearby wall. “Follow the arrows, you’ll be lead straight there.”

Brienne slumped with relief. “Oh, my growling stomach thanks you, sainted lady. However shall I repay you?” They both giggled.

~*~

Brienne leaned back against the chair, happily stuffed after a long day of marching. The food at the Center was rustic, filling, and came in large portions. She was happy to indulge, and she made a mental note to thank the cooks before she left the building. She was a bit too full at the moment to move. She’d gone straight for the food after she had left Nurse Joy, so her camper bag and guitar had sat the whole time behind her chair. Dresden had vacuumed up his food and curled up on her lap, a ball of cream and orange fur, and promptly gone to sleep. Dirk and Kanaya, usually both picky eaters—it’d been somewhat of a pain to get them to eat a whole meal at home—had actually asked for seconds before disappearing into their pokéballs to sleep.

Now if she could just get her feet to stop aching, all would be awesome. All she had to do now was review the Pokémon she’d encountered on her Pokédex, and drag herself off to a room for the night. A quick check of her wristwatch, something she avoided all day as an incentive to get through the forest, revealed it was only eight-thirty pm.

“Wow, I feel old. I feel very old.”

“Who feels old?” Came a sudden voice from across the table.

Brienne jumped, hissing as she smacked her elbow into the table. “Ow! Dammit. Trevor! Hi there! ‘Sup?”

“The ceiling? You okay?” The shorter boy leaned over, worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just not watching where I’m going.” She rubbed the offended part as Dresden stirred, peeked open an eye to figure out what was going on, and went back to sleep.

Trevor leaned back into the chair, a frown on his face. “We missed you at the town gates, Brienne. What took you so long? Calem and Shauna are already asleep.”

“Wait. You _missed_ me at the gates? As in, you got here before me?” What. What was this? Were they super-powered or something?

“Yeah! Tierno and I were the last ones to get here, besides you, and that’s only because I had to make sure I’d found every type of Pokémon in the area.” Trevor yawned a bit. “Tierno’s walking around a bit outside now, getting rid of some excess energy.”

Brienne let her head thunk onto the table and groaned. “Oh my god…”

“The ‘Dex Expert chuckled. “You’re not used to all the walking, are you?”

“Dear Gog Almighty, no.”

Trevor quirked an eyebrow at the odd name, but let it pass. “So how’s your Pokédex doing? Can I see?” He bounced a bit in his seat, excited to see if she had scanned Pokémon other than he had.

“Yeah, sure, knock yourself out.” Brienne mumbled to the table as she slapped her Pokédex into his hand, mentally bemoaning her fate of continuously sore feet.

“Oh, wow, you spotted a Pichu! I didn’t think there were any in this forest!”

“Mmmnnh. Came across a trainer with one. Ridiculously fast, too.”

“Oh. But that’s cool too!” He cheered up immediately and returned her ‘dex. “Thanks! You’re doing really well.”

She tilted her head and peeked up at him, forehead still mostly glued to the table. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He winked at her. “I know how hard tall grass is for us short people. It takes practice.”

“Ah.” She sighed. Practice. Great. There was more trudging in her future. She was so glad she wasn’t allergic to the stuff. She pulled herself back up into a slumped sitting position. Dresden didn’t move, out cold in dreamland. “Did you already eat?”

Trevor nodded. “Yeah, a couple hours ago. Center food is pretty filling.”

“Cool.”

The doors to the cafeteria creaked open. The hinged needed to be oiled, Brienne noted.

“Heeeeey, Bri, you made it!!” Tierno spun through the doors, practically prancing up to their table.

Dresden woke with a start, glared up at Tierno, and nosed his pokéball, vanishing in a flash of red.

Tierno blushed. “Oops.”

Brienne shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. They all need sleep anyway.”

“It’s been a long day for them, hasn’t it?” Trevor asked, and motioned for Tierno to take a seat.

“Been a long day for all of us.” Brienne yawned. “I’m thinking about hittin’ the hay soon.”

Tierno pouted. “Shauna told me about your guitar hobby.”

Trevor frowned at Tierno, but Brienne just sighed and smiled softly. “You want me to play?”

Tierno nodded enthusiastically, and Trevor blushed, but nodded as well.

“All right.” She reached back for the guitar case, pulling it up on the table and releasing the guitar itself. “Just let me think of what to play.” Tierno opened his mouth, but Brienne cut him off. “I generally don’t take requests, in case I don’t know the song. And I _really_ don’t know the songs here.”

Tierno shut his mouth with a click.

Brienne thought for a moment, strumming the strings absentmindedly. She hummed as one song occurred to her. “Listen carefully.”

Her fingers went from absent strumming to purposeful notes, a low, country-slow mood singing from the cords. She took a deep breath and started to sing, her voice low and rough.

_“On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha_   
_You can listen to the engine moanin' out it's one note song_   
_You can think about the woman, or the girl you knew the night before_   
_But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do_   
_When you're riding sixteen hours and there's nothing there to do_   
_And you don't feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through_

_Here I am, on the road again_   
_There I am, up on the stage_   
_Here I go, playing star again_   
_There I go, turn the page_

_Well you walk into a restaurant all strung out from the road_   
_And you feel the eyes upon you as you're shaking off the cold_   
_You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode_   
_Most times you can't hear 'em talk, other times you can_   
_All the same old clichés, is it woman is it man?_   
_You always seem outnumbered, so you don't dare make a stand_

_Here I am, on the road again_   
_There I am, up on the stage_   
_Here I go, playing star again_   
_There I go, turn the page_

_Out there in the spotlight you're a million miles away_   
_Every ounce of energy, you try to give away_   
_As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play_

_Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed_   
_With the echoes from the amplifiers ringin' in your head_   
_You smoke the days last cigarette, remembering what she said_

_Here I am, on the road again_   
_There I am, up on the stage_   
_Here I go, playing star again_   
_There I go, turn the page_

_Here I am, on the road again_   
_There I am, on the stage yeah_   
_Here I go, playing star again_

_There I go, there I go…”_

Brienne finished the song with a hum as the last few notes died away in the air. Tierno and Trevor both had their jaws hanging open, eyes wide.

Had she picked something a little too depressing? So it was something that might appear on _Supernatural_ , so what?

She felt a sleepy approval and joy in the back of her mind, before it faded away again. Dirk and Kanaya had enjoyed it too.

“Whoa, Bri, when Shauna said you were good…” Tierno started to clap, awed by the show.

Trevor blushed, frowned, and elbowed Tierno in the side. “Thank you for the song, Brienne.”

“Oh, yeah, thank you. You didn’t have to.” Tierno nodded along.

Brienne placed the guitar back in the case. “Thanks. I generally don’t play full songs like that.” She yawned. “Uhg. So going to bed now. See you guys tomorrow.”

“Night, Brienne.” Trevor waved.

The exhausted trainer slipped her camper pack over one shoulder, grabbed the guitar case in the other, and slouched her way to an empty room. She toes her shoes off once in the door, dropped the pack and guitar in one itty, bitty corner, and flopped onto the bed, just barely remembering to get under the covers.

She was asleep in under a minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Brienne plays is "Turn the Page," originally by Bob Seger, and recovered by Metallica. Both versions are worth listening to, though I prefer the second version. 
> 
> I could really use some feedback from you readers. I know this isn't the best, but whatever comments you have would honestly make my day. I always respond to signed in comments! Kudos are also awesome, they let me know you're reading all the way through the story. 
> 
> Thanks all. Till next update!


	4. From Breakfast to Battle Queen!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Buddy you're a boy,  
> make a big noise playing in the street,  
> gonna be a big man someday!
> 
> You've got mud on your face,  
> you big disgrace,  
> kicking your can all over the place!
> 
> We will,  
> we will rock you!  
> We will,  
> we will rock you!"

Brienne heard muttering above her head. She did not care, it was early according to her body, and she was going to sleep until she felt human again or the building caught on fire. Her nose dug deeper into the pillow as she nuzzled it.

Someone else had other plans.

“BRIENNE YOU’RE LATE FOR YOUR MATCH!!” Shauna screamed in her ear.

“SON OF A BITCH!” The next thing Shauna knew was that she was on the floor, Brienne was already halfway down the hallway, and that this prank was completely worth it.

Brienne came stomping back in the door. “Oh my _god_ Shauna what the hell! Uhg. Thank you very much for that wake-up call at…” She peered at her wristwatch. “Eight am. Why. Why have you woken me up at an ungodly hour? Why would you torture me with this? Why, Shauna, I thought we were friends.”

Shauna picked herself up and sat on the bed, legs crossed. “Because today’s the day of your first gym match, and you gotta be up bright and early for it!”

The glare that Shauna received could have melted steel. “This is one of your ‘living life to the fullest’ rules isn’t it?”

“Yeap!” She bounced herself off the bed to pat Brienne on the shoulder. “You’ll thank me later.”

“No I won’t.” The glare had lessened from ‘melting steel’ to ‘oh god I hate my life kill me now.’ “Please leave. I slept in these clothes. Urgh. I _slept_ in these clothes. I want a shower, and coffee, and food, but mostly coffee…” The post-wake-up ramble coincided with Shauna pushed out of the room. “See you in half an hour, Shauna, and there better be coffee!!”

Brienne slammed the door.

Shauna giggled.

“I HEARD THAT. GET!!”

Shauna got.

~*~

Brienne left her room clean, slightly less grumpy than she was when she awoke, in a new set of clothes, and followed by her two Ralts.

_ “So today we’re taking on a gym leader?” _

“Yeap.” She nodded to the Ralts on the right. “You think you’re ready for it?”

_ “Way more than ready for it. Bring. It. On.” _

“Someone’s enthusiastic.” She grinned.

The janitor the group passed looked at them oddly. Was that girl carrying on a conversation with a Pokémon?

**_“More than enthusiastic. He started talking about it as soon as we hit Santalune. He was just too busy eating to say anything to you.”_ **

Brienne waited for a response, but Dirk was suspiciously silent.

“Dirk. You’ll get your time to shine. I promise.”

The warm fuzzies she got in return were all she needed.

The three of them walked into the cafeteria, Brienne holding the door for her two Ralts. She didn’t have to look around for her coffee.

“Hey, Bri, over here!” Shauna stood up with a screech of chair legs against laminate flooring.

“Coffee.” She slumped down into the last empty seat at the table.

“What, no thank you, no gratitude?” Shauna pouted.

“Coffee first.” Brienne grunted out. If she had wanted niceties, she shouldn’t have yelled first thing.

“Oh, all right. Here,” Shauna placed the paper cup into Brienne’s waiting hands.

The caffeine-obsessed girl took a sip, let it trickle down her throat, swallowed properly, and then began to down the whole cup.

“Oh my god.” Calem watched, jaw dropping as Brienne slowly tilted her head back, baring her neck as she swallowed. “How does she _do_ that?”

Trevor responded, eyes not leaving the sight. “Extreme need for caffeine overrides pain receptors. She’s also holding her breath.”

Brienne slammed the empty paper cup down and sighed, settling down into the seat in absolute, caffeine-induced bliss. “Thanks, Shauna. Ah, that was good.” She smiled at the group. “So, how is everyone and what’s today’s plan?”

They all gaped.

**_“I think you broke them.”_ **

“I think I did…”

_ “Give us a boost? Can’t quite see down here.” _

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Brienne leaned down and let her Ralts use one hand each like an elevator, setting them gently on the table.

_ “Oh, man, I wish I could snap a pic of their faces. Awww, Calem’s coming out of it.” _

“Now that you’ve got your wake-up juice, are you going to function?”

Brienne just had a dose of high-octane caffeine. Nothing could piss her off now. “Yeap!”

Calem rolled his eyes.

“So, are we going to sight-see first, or are Calem and Brienne going to challenge the gym, first?” Tierno scratched his head, eyes bouncing between the two trainers.

Shauna stood up and glomped Brienne around the shoulders. “Calem can challenge the gym first, we can go sightseeing, and then Bri can. It’ll give the leader time to heal her Pokémon.” She squeezed. “What’d’ya think?”

Brienne shrugged. “Works for me.” She smirked, locking eyes with Calem. “Unless you want me to go first.”

He scoffed. “With the way you’ve been stumbling around Santalune Forest and Route Three? I better go first just so I can soften her up.”

“Tch.” Brienne rolled her eyes. “Let me get something to eat for me and my team, and then we can go.”

~*~

Shauna and Brienne sat on the edge of Santalune City’s main fountain, nibbling on sandwiches from the local café for an early lunch. There were loads of benches situated around the fountain itself, but the soft breeze coming off the moving water felt good against their backs.

“Calem did really well against Viola, don’t ya think?” Shauna said as she dipped her hand into the fountain. The man himself was at the Pokémon Center, healing his Pokémon. He’d promised to come meet them afterwards and then it’d be Brienne’s turn.

“Good enough. His Farfetch’d did most of the work, though. Seriously, ‘Quacklin’’? Somebody has an odd idea for a nickname.” Brienne sighed and took another bite of sandwich. She was already mulling over ideas for her own upcoming battle.

“It was what he got in a trade. Nicknames carry over. It’s kinda like a memento of their old trainer.” Shauna shrugged.

“The whole idea of trading feels kind of off to me. You spend all this time and energy in raising a Pokémon, get attached, and then just give it away? Bit of a raw deal, especially for the Pokémon itself.” Brienne thought of her own Pokémon, and mentally shook her head. Nope. Never gonna give them away.

Shauna just shrugged and took another bite of sandwich.

“Speaking of raw deals, Shauna…” Brienne straightened her spine. She hoped this went over well. “Do you think you could wake me up a bit gentler next time? This morning wasn’t very nice.”

“It got you up really fast, though! You’re a bit of a sleepyhead when you wake up.” Shauna pouted.

“Shauna, hun, what it did was put me in fight-mode. I kinda thought the building was on fire.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. The girl was looking like someone had run over her Poochyena. Oh dear, she was going local. “Look, next time you want to wake me up fast, nudge my shoulder or something, or better yet have a cup of coffee ready for me. Best way to wake me up, I promise.”

“Okay, can do!” Shauna smiled, and the brightness of it dazzled Brienne into next week.

Oh. Shauna’s eyes lit up when she smiled like that. Brienne fought to think through her daze, struck dumb at the sight.

Shauna was getting closer. “Bri. Bri you there. Brienne do I need to get you more coffee before your match?”

“Wha-huh? Coffee? Yeah, sure.” Brienne blinked hard and shook her head. “That’d be awesome.”

Shauna snorted. “All right. Back in a bit. Stay put.” She skipped off to the café they’d just been in. Brienne couldn’t help but watch her leave.

A thought struck her. “Oh. Oh no.” She groaned, head falling to rest on her knees. “I’ve got a huge crush on Shauna. Oh bloody buggering hell.”

~*~

The Santalune Gym stood proud, hints of green and gold in the post-Romanesque architecture. This time the doors were unguarded. When they’d appeared here in the morning for Calem’s challenge, a Trainer had blocked the way, demanding a battle before letting them through.  
The whole group had gotten roller skates in exchange, however, when Calem beat her.

The group of five stepped through the doors, greeting the dapper man at the front. Brienne broke away from the group, headed for the pole in the center of the room.

“You can do it, Bri!” Shauna called from the side. The group was being led to a side-room, where a camera would reveal what was going on in the battle.

Brienne turned back to look at them. Trevor gave her a thumbs up, Tierno, behind him, pumped a fist. Shauna was already cheering, waving as hard as she could. Calem, in the very back, scoffed, but gave her a small smile.

She nodded back to all of them, smiled, and slid down the pole.

She fell for what looked to be about a floor, landing on some trampoline-like material. She knew exactly how the place was set up from having watched Calem’s match, but it was still unsettling to be in the middle of what amounted to a giant spider web.

“Argh. Spiders. I can’t stand spiders.” She shuddered. “All right, guys, you ready to go?”

 ** _“As I’ll ever be, I guess.”_** Kanaya’s voice was hesitant.

She stepped lightly forward, trying to not bounce too much with each step. It was dark underneath the webbing; she did _not_ want to fall off.

“And Dresden?” Brienne tapped his pokéball.

**_“He says ‘Bring on the bugs!’ I do believe he’s chomping at the bit for his first gym battle.”_ **

“Awesome. We’ll be fine.” She grinned.

Bright and harsh camera lights clicked on as she got closer and closer to the gym leader’s platform. She could feel the heat on the back of her neck as more cameras turned on. Geeze, was the leader trying to blind her?  
At least she could see there was a safety net under the web, now.

She landed a little hard onto the wooden platform, she’d gotten somewhat used to the bouncy webbing and transition to a still, solid ground unbalanced her.

Brienne shook out her legs and stood tall, stepping up to the trainer’s box, arena sketched out around her in white paint, Viola already waiting with a camera.

Now, Calem had said something about announcing yourself, something about tradition…Brienne sighed, before taking a deep breath and pitched her voice across the field.

“I am Brienne Lalonde of Vaniville Town, and I challenge Leader Viola of the Santalune City Gym for the Bug Badge!”

The pronouncement sent shivers down her spine, and even from this distance, she could see the wicked smile Viola gave her.

"That determined expression… That glint in your eye that says you're up to the challenge… It's fantastic! Just fantastic! Is this your first time challenging a Gym?” Viola asked, energy pouring from her.

“Yeah!” This was a first time for  _everything,_ lady, get with the program.

“Fantastic!” The way Viola drew it out made Brienne wonder if there was a certain show that made the jump between realities with her. “Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory… They're both great subjects for my camera! Now come at me!” She snapped a quick photo and then let the camera hang from her neck, pulling a pokéball from her belt. “This will be a two-on-two battle, with only the challenger allowed to switch out Pokémon. Challenger releases their Pokémon first. Are you ready?”

“Bring it on!” Brienne grinned. Now she knew why people did this. The adrenaline and excitement made for a heady rush.

“Begin!” The shout was like a shot from a gun.

“Kanaya! We’re doing this man!” The white light flashed, revealing Kanaya front and center, hands out in front of her.

“A Ralts, huh? Cute.” Her pokéball came out with all the speed of a professional softball player. “Let’s go, Surskit!” The Surskit looked like a small blue ball with eyes and four legs, a yellow antenna on top. It squeaked and started skittering around the field.

**_“Oh, she did not just call me cute. No way. If anything, I am elegant.”_ **

“That just proves you need to beat her, Kanaya!” Brienne smirked and looked up at Viola, who had tilted her head at the one-sided conversation. “Kanaya doesn’t like you anymore. Shouldn’t have called her cute!”

“Surs-kit!” The water/bug Pokémon chirped, as if to remind them there was a battle to be had.

“Ah-huh. Surskit! Start out with quick attack! Hit it hard and fast!” Viola shouted, bringing the concentration back to the field.

Brienne jumped to. “Kanaya, double team! Dance circles around it and don’t let it hit you!”

“Ralts! **_As if.”_** Kanaya blurred into multiple figures, all which danced to and fro around Surskit. The Surskit growled and shot itself into multiple quick attacks, each one hitting a copy, however, missing Kanaya herself.

“Good job Kanaya! Now, magical leaf! Tear it up!”

Kanaya’s power coalesced around her as she slowed, shimmering blades of opalescent light that formed into the vague shape of leaves that shot straight for the water spider.

“Surskit, bubble! Blast away those leaves!”

Bubbles and leaves met in a colorful set of fireworks. Bits of each attack made contact through the collision, knocking both Pokémon back.

Brienne clenched her fists. “You can do this, Kanaya! Get in Surskit’s face!”

Kanaya shook her head and dashed forward, to the surprise of the Surskit. **_“Gotcha.”_**

The Surskit could only blink in surprise.

“Magical leaf!” The close range grass attack arrowed into the water spider, knocking it down and back and leaving it looking like a lawn mower had just gone over it. “Finish this, Kanaya!”

Kanaya rammed her shoulder into the Surskit, grabbed it by the legs, and with all her strength, flung it flying back at Viola.

The Surskit trilled weakly, twitched, and fell over in a dead faint.

Viola blinked at her Surskit.

The referee raised the flag towards Brienne. “Surskit is unable to battle. Ralts wins the battle!”

“Woooo! Great job Kanaya! Sweet finishing move! That’ll show her!” Brienne cheered.

 ** _“That’ll teach her to call me cute. I. Am. Not. Cute.”_**  She panted softly.

“Hey, think you can keep going, Kan?”

 ** _“Enough to give Dresden a head start.”_** She shrugged her small shoulders. **_“Next battle won’t be so easy.”_**

“All right then. We’re going for it.” Brienne nodded at her Pokémon.

Viola called back her unconscious Pokémon. “Whoa, that was an amazing first battle. You’ve done well with your Ralts. But Vivillion won’t be so easy. GO!” She yelled, once again pitching out the pokéball with impressive speed.  
The Vivillion appeared in a burst of white electronic dust, flying a loop around its trainer. “Ready, Vivillion?”

The butterfly trilled, nodding once.

“You can do it, Kanaya! Let’s go! Magical leaf!” The opalescent leaves sliced through the air to the butterfly. They compacted, and a mass of dust flew up into the air, obscuring the field.

There was a trill, and the dust cleared as the Vivillion flapped its wings. Except for maybe one or two scratches, the Vivillion was unharmed.

Both Brienne and Kanaya winced. **_“Oh, bugger.”_**

“Vivillion, tackle attack!” The Pokémon chirped and shot forward in a colored beam of light.

Kanaya, still young and tired from the last battle, couldn’t dodge fast enough. The tackle sent her tumbling across the field to her trainer’s feet in a twisted copy of the last battle. Payback, it seemed.

Brienne knelt and carefully picked up the exhausted Ralts. “Hey. Good job.”

The referee raised his flag towards Viola. “Ralts is unable to battle. The score is one-to-one.”

**_“Thanks. I seriously need to learn some psychic moves, though.”_ **

“We’ll get there. This is only the start.” She hummed, cradling the Pokémon in her left arm. “A’ight! Time for hardball.” She pulled the third pokéball from her belt and pitched it just as hard as Viola had her own. “Dresden, let’s light it up!”

Viola grinned. “I’d wondered if you had a fire type! Fantastic!”

“Oh, it’s more than fantastic. Dresden, listen up!” She set Kanaya to sit on her shoulders, as the psychic Pokémon already knew what was coming. Brienne needed both hands.

Then the stomping started.

Stomp. Stomp. Clap.

Stomp-stomp-clap. Stomp-stomp-clap. Stomp-stomp-clap.

Dresden yelped happily and joined in with his bark.

Viola blinked in total confusion. She’d met some oddball trainers, but this took the cake.

“Think you can handle this battle on your own, Dresden?” He turned and nodded over his shoulder. “Cool! Go!”

Dresden charged in.

Brienne cackled joyfully and then began to yell. There was no point to attempting to sing this one. It was all about psyching out her opponent. Queen was good for that. And the floor made her stomps echo. She’d lucked out.

“Buddy you’re boy make a big noise playing the street gonna be a big man someday!”

Dresden barked and leapt into the air, spitting an ember at Vivillion.

Vivillion winced and dodged, the attack reminding it there was in a battle and had to pay attention.

“You’ve got mud on your face, you big disgrace, kicking your can all over the place!” Brienne grin was wicked, her eyes locked not on the battle but on Viola. She wasn’t singing for her Pokémon. She was singing to unhinge.

Viola shook herself and concentrated. “Vivillion,” She had to shout over Brienne. “Tackle, and follow it up with infestation!”

Vivillion shot hard at the fire-fox, small black motes gathering at the edges of its wings. Dresden took the attack to the face, growling hard as the small black parasites starting biting.

“We will we will rock you! We will we will rock you!”

The air around Dresden’s ears started to shimmer as he took off after the Vivillion and howled, charging up for a big one.

“Buddy you’re a young man hard man, shoutin’ in the street gonna take on the world someday. You got blood on yo’ face, you big disgrace, wavin’ your banner all over the place!”

Fire began to spin around Dresden as he ran, targeted like a heat-seeking missile on the Vivillion.

“We will we will rock you! Sing it! We will, we will rock you!” Brienne was snarling the song at this point.

“Vivillion, tackle it again! Put it down!”

This was exactly what Dresden was waiting for. He erupted into flame and met Vivillion’s charge with his own. There was an explosion.

“Buddy you’re an old man poor man, pleadin’ with your eyes gonna make you some peace someday. You got mud on yo’ face, you big disgrace, somebody better put you back into your place!” Brienne laughed at the end of the verse as she stopped singing, but kept up the stomp-clap pattern.

The smoke cleared, revealing the two Pokémon. Viola gasped. Vivillion was flat on the ground, its wings heavily singed, pinned with Dresden on its back as he barked his win.

“Vivillion is unable to battle! Victory goes to Brienne Lalonde of Vaniville Town!” The referee called, finishing the match.

Viola called back her knocked-out Vivillion and nodded, stepping off the platform to meet Brienne in the middle.

“YES! AMAZING _FUCKING_ JOB, DRESDEN!!” Viola winced at the language. Dresden barked in reply, running up to his trainer. Brienne kneeled and opened her arms to receive a face full of slobber as Dresden licked her face. “Good job, buddy.” She pulled Kanaya back into her arms for a cuddle. “You too. Amazing job, both of you.”

She stood, holding both her Pokémon, and went to meet Viola.

You, uh,” She chuckled ruefully. “You’ve certainly shown me a new depth of field with this battle.” She reached out to shake hands. “Can I take a picture of you, your Ralts and Fennekin? I do it with every challenger that comes through.”

“Sure,” Brienne met Viola’s grip with her own. “That’s fine.”

 ** _“Can you hurry? Dresden says he itches horribly.”_** Brienne winced.

Viola hopped a few steps back and quickly snapped the picture. Letting the camera hang once again from her neck, she pulled two pins from her pocket. “I am honored to present to you the Santalune Bug Badge, and the TM Infestation. There is also a check waiting for you at the front desk. Just present the badge.”

Brienne grinned hard enough to make her cheeks sore as she took the badge.

~*~

Calem watched as Brienne struggled between holding her two Pokémon and accepting her winners’ check from the front desk. Eventually she was able to cradle her exhausted Ralts and her Fennekin in one arm, take the check only to shove it in one back pocket, and then re-adjust her Pokémon again. The balancing act over, she rejoined the group waiting by the front doors.

“So what’d ya think? Not too bad for my first big battle?” She grinned, and hugged her tired Pokémon closer as Tierno and Shauna exploded, all of them making it out the doors and towards the Center.

“Oh man, Bri, you have got to teach me that song, later! What you did was awesome!” Tierno somehow managed to stomp while walking, repeating the pattern he’d seen during the battle. “I’ve never heard that song before.”

Brienne just giggled, her eyes bright, still riding the high that came from winning a gym match. Calem watched as she mindlessly walked with the group, only Trevor saving her from smashing into anything or anyone.

“You’ve trained your Fennekin really well, Bri! You’ve only had it a few days and you can already let it battle mostly on its own? That’s really good! Dresden did, dare I say it,” Shauna grinned. “Fantastic against that Vivillion. You should be proud.”

And that was what had gotten Calem’s attention; the fact that Brienne had been able to drop all command and just let her Fennekin battle. Maybe the two had talked it over between his battle and theirs, but to be as independent as that Fennekin had during battle took lots of training, and lots of trust. To see it so early spoke volumes about what Brienne had in her future as a trainer. He had to admit, even if just to himself, that it lit a fire under him to really get going.

“You did really well, neighbor.” He gave Brienne a smile and a nod. He wasn’t a complete emotional dunce, after all. “You should hurry up and get your Pokémon healed, though. We’ll wait out here.”

Brienne blinked at him, and then at the Center doors in surprise. “Oh, right!” She dashed through them as fast as she could with two Pokémon in her arms, disappearing through the doors.

She was a talented trainer, but was completely oblivious to everything else around her. How did that even _work?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I admit. I dorked hard in this chapter. Do I care? Nope! Self-indulgence for the win. 
> 
> Song is, of course, "We Will Rock You," by Queen. 
> 
> Kudo and Comment, please!


	5. Put the Tale to the Test (Money where your mouth is!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lumiose City at last! Bright colors, rich food, and the Kalos' region's very own Pokémon Professor await Brienne after her victory at Santalune City.  
> There's a flip side, however. Grace may believe that Brienne's not from around here, but not everyone will. Can she spin her story?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! So sorry for the long delay between updates. Stuff's been kinda crazy for me, and I'm still battling a pretty long writer's dry spell. Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it. 
> 
> Also, I just recently landed a temp job for the holiday seasons, so I'll be busy as all hell until January. Updates may stay regular, or might become even more sporadic depending on how many hours I get a week. Who knows. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Brienne hugged Shauna one last time and turned to face the gates out of Santalune City.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here one more day? We’ve got all the time in the world to wander around. Santalune’s beautiful! And you haven’t even looked at the gift shops!” Shauna cajoled, pouting slightly.

She shrugged. “I just don’t want to spend money on things I don’t quite need just yet? I’ve been pretty lucky so far, winning most of my battles, but a lot of this money goes to potions and pokéballs and other stuff.” And gift shops were so not her thing. They tended to have easily-broken, overpriced trinkets that weren’t good for anything but sitting there and collecting dust.

That, and her collection of shot-glasses was back home, in Maryland.

Shauna sighed. “All right.”

Brienne gave her a small smile. “Hey, no looking so sad. From what the map and Trevor have told me, Route Four is short, just a little bit longer than Route One. A couple hours and bam! Lumiose City. I’m just going early so I can get a little training in with Dirk and settle myself down at the Center.” Her smile got a little bigger as Shauna perked up. “I’ll see you tomorrow when you get there, okay? We’ll all see Professor Sycamore together.”

“Okay.” Shauna nodded as the logic pieced itself together in her mind, and stepped back, already bouncing on her feet, ready to meet back with the rest of their friends. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Bri! Don’t be a sleepy-head!”

“Ha! I’ll try not to. It totally depends on if there’s coffee or not!”

“There will be!” Shauna’s voice faded as she turned the corner and disappeared back into the small city.

Brienne stepped through the gates onto the brick-paved road and released Dirk.

_ “’Bout time you let me out. I was getting’ bored in there!” _

His trainer snorted and pointed to the well-kept gardens that were ahead of them. “Well, you won’t be bored now. Trevor said there were a bunch of Pokémon that liked to hide in those flowers. He’s looking forward to this part of the trip.”

_ “So what am I doin’?” _

Brienne shrugged. “Speed, agility, your psychic abilities. We’ll be working on hand-to-hand fighting if you run into something your size or smaller. Otherwise it’s wiser to wait until you’re a Kirlia.

 _“Cool.”_ Dirk nodded, already trotting off into the first patch of flowers on the left.

“Don’t engage if it’s too big for you, Dirk!”

_ “Aawwww…” _

~*~

Route Four was a lesson in learning how to not crush flowers as one walked through them, as meeting angry gardeners and their Corphish was not a fun experience. Once the angry gardeners were defeated, placated, and aided in replanting, everything else went off without too much difficulty. The random selection of pokéfans and preschooler level trainers wasn’t too much of a surprise after Santalune forest.

Did people just hang out in these areas, day after day to battle whatever trainer came through?

The highlight of Route Four appeared as a huge water fountain, artfully placed and welcome on such a warm day. The two roller skater trainers doing loops around the fountain were defeated, barely, after chasing them down and battling. Both Dirk and Kanaya were still working on purely psychic type moves, and while they were close, they didn’t have it quite yet. Dresden was well on his way to being a walking fire disaster, much like his namesake.

It was a good thing the last battle took place next to a water fountain, or the nearest hedge maze wouldn’t be there anymore.  

Brienne made it to the north-west exit of Route Four by four p.m., one hand occasionally shielding her eyes from the afternoon sun. She had a hat, but it was somewhere in her pack and getting it out was more effort than she wanted to spend.

The south eastern terminal to Lumiose City reminded Brienne of the D.C. metro entrances somewhat, except instead of sheer practicality; someone had thrown a French Renaissance artist at the thing and told them to go nuts. Corinthian pillars stood to either side, and faux-gold gilt was layered on any edge the artist thought tasteful. Either way, it was bright outside, dark inside the terminal, and Brienne just wanted to go to the Center to take a nap.

Brienne was starting to relearn the importance of naps, and wondered why she stopped taking them in the first place.

Just as she was about to trudge through the gate, she was stopped by the two figures in white standing on either side.

“Miss! Miss!” The man in white on the left said, reaching out and gently catching her arm.

Brienne rubbed at her face and groaned as softly as she could. “Yes? Look, if you want a battle, you’ll have to wait, all my Pokémon are exhausted, and frankly I’m about to join them.”

The man shook his head as the woman on the right joined them. Brienne tried not to shoot them both a dark look. “My name is Dexio, and this is Sina. Are you Brienne Lalonde? Professor Sycamore sent us ahead to escort you and whoever may be travelling with you to the Lab.”

Brienne blinked. “…Really? Prove it.”

Sina slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out a Pokédex only slightly bulkier than the one Brienne herself had, tapped a few buttons, and revealed the screen to Brienne. “My Trainer ID, given to me when I got my starter Pokémon, and my assistant researcher ID given when I decided to join Lumiose Labs a year ago. Dexio has the same.”

“Oh. Okay.” Brienne sighed and let her shoulders slump a little. “It’s just been a very long day, and my travelling group is back in Santalune City.”

Dexio smiled. “That is perfectly all right. Come now, we’ll take you directly to the lab.”

“Can we stop off at the Pokémon Center? I’d like to drop off my pack and heal my Pokémon, first.” Brienne gladly let the two assistants lead her through the terminal. She didn’t have to pull out her map again.

“Certainly.” Sina nodded. “We understand that Pokémon come first. It’s nice to see a new trainer keeping them in perfect shape. Mm. Speaking of Pokémon,” She tapped her lips in thought as the group of three walked into the city, “How’s your starter, Fennekin doing?”

“He’s the most excitable thing I’ve ever seen out of a two-year old on a sugar high on Christmas day.” She snorted. “His last battle was near a fountain. If it hadn’t, half of Route Four would’ve been ashes.” She shrugged at their looks. “He’s got power; we’re working on the control.”

Dexio nodded. “Every trainer has their challenges with their Pokémon. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.” The three stopped at a set of double doors. “Ah, here’s the Center. Shall we wait for you here?”

Brienne shrugged again. “Sure. I won’t be too long.”

~*~

Brienne came out of the Pokémon Center, pack and guitar sitting in a reserved room, Pokémon healed—if tired, and given a command from Nurse Joy to rest—and coffee from the cafeteria in hand. “All right, lead away!” She took another large swallow from her to-go cup.

The two assistants looked at her sideways.

“Coffee is the nectar of the gods and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Brienne sniffed in affected snobbery, quickly smiling.

Sina snorted.

“I have to ask, before we arrive at the Labs,” Dexio spoke, turning to look at Brienne as he walked. “You wouldn’t have happened to encounter a Pokémon called Flabébé, have you?”

Brienne pulled out her Pokédex, eyebrows furrowed as she flicked through the listings. “Ah…yeah, actually. Itty bitty sprite lookin’ thing, holding onto a brightly colored flower, flower color determined by where it’s found?”

“Mmmhmm!” Sina nodded, clapping her hands together. “Flabébé is a fairy-type Pokémon, a new subset that we researchers are still working on, so whatever information you gather on them will be very helpful!”

Brienne grinned. “Cool.” She slipped her Pokédex back in her pocket.

The Lumiose City Pokémon Lab Dexio and Sina led her to a muted building, in contrast to all the others in the city they had passed so far. Every business was trying its hardest to get patronage, enticing smells coming from some doorways, pleasant places to sit and think with others, or large signs declaring the newest deal with some. The Labs were quiet in their humility, two brick pillars about five feet tall with stone pokéballs on top, marking the edge of a walkway up to the door, a yard of grass blocked off with wrought iron bars. It honestly reminded Brienne of a college more than anything else.

Dexio, then Sina, shook Brienne’s hand. “Here you are. Let the secretary at the front desk know you’ve arrived, and you should get to see the professor soon enough. It was wonderful meeting you! I wish you luck on your journey!” Dexio said, stepping back.

“You’re leaving?” Brienne tilted her head.

“Yes, sorry to leave you here by yourself, but we still have a few more things to do today for the professor. You’ll be fine. If you get lost the taxi drivers will happily take you wherever you need to go.” Sina waved. “Good luck! Adieu!”

The two trotted off.

Brienne turned toward the unassuming building and sighed deeply, rolling her neck and shoulders to get rid of some of the tension. That nap was really calling to her. She groaned again, this time loudly, and headed up to the front door. If he had sent personal assistants to go fetch her and make sure she arrived, that really meant he wanted to talk to her. About what, she had no idea.

Her empty coffee cup went into the trash can just past the front doors.

The secretary at the desk was bright eyed and bushy tailed, the absolute opposite of how Brienne felt. She stepped up to the desk, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would settle down. “Uh…hi, I’m Brienne Lalonde, here to see Professor Sycamore?”

The secretary, whose nametag said Adele, nodded sharply. “Of course. Please make yourself comfortable and I’ll let you know when he’s ready for you.”

The sofa in the waiting area, just a few feet from the front desk, was deceptive. She sat down on the plush forest green fabric and immediately sank. She squeaked in surprise, squirmed around a bit, and stretched out, happy to finally be off her feet in what was proving to be a _very_ long day. Long enough that even her twin Ralts had been silent for the last couple hours.

They were probably sleeping. They deserved it.

She was just starting to doze off herself—it had been fifteen, maybe twenty minutes—when the secretary woke her up.

“Huh-wha? Mmmn. Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

Adele simply smiled, and gestured further into the building. “Professor Sycamore will see you now. Take the elevator, go to the third floor, and open the first door on your right.”

“Ah…okay. Thanks.” Brienne stretched as she stood.

“My pleasure. Have a good day.”

~*~

Professor Augustine Sycamore—his full name was on a plaque attached to the door—was not what she expected. What did she expect? She didn’t know. This was not it.

Professor Sycamore was a tall, just-into-middle-age gentleman with hair so dark it went past black and edged into a very deep blue, at a length that couldn’t quite be pulled into a ponytail, but was getting close. Not many men had long hair, she noted.  
Under his traditional lab coat was a violently violet silk shirt with a popped collar. Just _how old_ was this guy, again? He also wore a pair of black tapered-leg jeans, but he did have the legs for them.

She found herself staring and met his bright blue eyes.

“Oh, hi, I’m Brienne Lalonde.” She reached out to shake hands.

He met her grip with a firm shake of his own. “Professor Sycamore. Pleasure to meet you, Brienne. Grace told me a good bit about you. Please, sit,” He motioned to a pair of chairs adjacent to his desk, and quietly shut the office door.

“She has?” Brienne froze; her back to the professor and one hand on the chair. She had no idea where this was going.

“Oui. But tell me of your journey so far. I only know that you received a Fennekin, Shauna a Chespin, and Calem a Froakie, when Trevor reported that the starter Pokémon were safely delivered. I am curious as to how you have been doing. I’m stuck in my labs most of the day, you see.”

“Ah…” Brienne slowly sat down. The professor made that chair his own with his posture, leaned back into every possible inch it gave him, and legs crossed at the knee, attention fully on her. She sat stiffly, nervously fiddling with her fingers. “Well, Dresden’s affectionate and energetic. He’s doing very well powering his fire attacks, though his control needs a bit of work.” She thought for a moment. “He did _very_ well in his first gym match against the Santalune Gym.” And here she couldn’t help but let her pride color her voice. “He, along with Kanaya, helped win that badge. He’s very eager for battle.”

“Kanaya?” Sycamore’s slightly tilted head and voice inferred the question.

“One of my Ralts. I am raising twins, Dirk and Kanaya.”

Sycamore raised his eyebrows. “That makes for quite a team!”

Brienne snorted. “Sometimes I feel like I’m raising kids, and it’s only been a couple days. I love them to bits, though.”

“Oh, very good! That is what every Pokémon professor hopes to hear, truly.” He hummed in thought. “What do you think of Kalos, so far, what you have seen?” His hand motioned in a circle, gesturing somewhat vaguely.

“Lots of greenery, forests, and tall, _tall_ grass.” She huffed a sigh. “Very tall grass.”

“The people?” Sycamore leaned forward. He was thinking, she could tell by the look on his face.

Brienne thought for a moment, flopping back into her chair. “Very, very kind. Generous, to a point that I didn’t think existed in so many people. I was just in Santalune City, and I would walk by small groups of people, and they would ask if I was a trainer, and when I said yes, they’d just hand me things I might need for my journey! Just like that! Potions, pokéballs,” She made random gestures in the air with her hands as she listed things off. “A TM or two, sometimes small amounts of cash, various berries that they’d found earlier that day…I don’t understand where the generosity comes from, really.” She peered at him for a moment. “Is that unique to Santalune?”

Sycamore smiled. “Not quite, no. It’s a bit less, here, in Lumiose, but that’s because it’s a tourist hotspot. Other towns and cities…you may find you don’t need to buy supplies that day.”

Brienne’s jaw dropped. “How…why…” She was stunned. “That doesn’t make sense!”

Professor Sycamore smiled softly and steepled his fingers. “Why not?”

“It just…” She yanked softly at her hair in frustration. “It doesn’t. Okay, it doesn’t.” She threw her hands up. “The majority of the populace will not—or usually is not—that kind to a random stranger, no matter what they are doing.”

Sycamore frowned, a softer look coming into his eyes. “Why?”

She sighed. “Life’s too hard. You generally need whatever you’ve got. Stuff like what I’m getting? They’re essentials. You don’t waste essentials.” She shrugged. “It’s like free food. It doesn’t come around often.”

She blinked at him for a moment when an agreement didn’t immediately come, and then bapped herself in the forehead. “I forgot. I’m in miracle-monster, almost-utopic world. My experiences don’t apply.” She blinked again, in shock, as she reviewed what she just said, slapping her hand over her mouth. “Oh _shit._ ”

“Now, there’s no need for that kind of language.” Sycamore gave the most welcoming smile he could muster. “Grace told me you aren’t from…for lack of word, around here, at all?”

Brienne shook her head slowly.

“I’m glad you came by yourself, Brienne. I assume you haven’t told anyone else?”

Another headshake.

“It means we can talk without your friends asking too many questions.” He shrugged. “It makes it a little bit easier for you, I believe.” He motioned to her. “I don’t quite believe Grace, but only because I haven’t heard your story. I’ve done a little research, but you’ll only see it if I like your story. Otherwise, I just…send you on your journey, to the next town.” He shrugged again. “Tell me your story, Brienne Lalonde. Tell me where you are from.”

Brienne swallowed and stared at his expectant look. How exactly would she get him to believe her? Should she tell him? The door was closed, not locked, she could leave. Might as well tell him. Grace already had, and Grace took her in. If Grace trusted him, then she would, for now.

She hoped he believed her. She still thought she was dreaming when she woke up every day.

“My name is Brienne Miranda Lalonde. I am twenty years old, born on August first.” She thought for a second. “I am a citizen of the United States of America, shortened to America, or ‘The U.S.,’ for short. My home state is Maryland, and my home town is Frederick.” She tilted her head, letting the thoughts shift around. “Until about two months ago, I knew no such thing as Pokémon. I was at a sleepover party for my best friend, Elaine. She’d just gotten engaged, and we all celebrating at her fiancé’s house. Some of us were drinking…I hadn’t touched the alcohol; I don’t exactly have a taste for it. I’d gone to sleep that night along with about everybody else. I think I went to the bathroom once. I remember stumbling into a wall.” She shrugged. “I sometimes sleepwalk in unfamiliar places, it was a bit of a pain for the first week at Grace’s…Next thing I know for sure, I’m waking up in a grassy field, and a Gardevoir is taking me for a walk.”

Sycamore blinked in surprise. “Wild Gardevoir aren’t exactly known for their trust of humans. They’re a shy species.”

“So my Pokédex tells me, and so does every book I read on them.” She shrugged. “It happened. She took me into Santalune forest, well deep into it, far from the path; I looked when I was there, and I couldn’t find it. She handed me two Pokémon eggs, and then led me to Vaniville Town. From there I knocked on Grace’s door, purely by chance.”

Brienne met Sycamore’s eyes and held his gaze. “Those two eggs are Dirk and Kanaya. I doubt you could take them from me if you brought all the Pokémon in the world against them.”

Sycamore looked shocked and mildly hurt. “I wouldn’t even try. Why do you think I would?”

Brienne snorted dryly. “Because I’m a cynical bitch and everything has been too damn easy so far. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. This place is too damn nice!” She slammed her fists on the chair arms, the violent movement made Sycamore jump.

“Too nice? This world is not perfect, nothing is. Where do you get this hypothesis?” His confusion was clear.

“All right.” She sighed again and leaned back into her seat. “To answer that, I need an answer or two of my own.”

“I’ll answer if I can.”

“When was the last time Kalos was at war. Any type.” She waved her hand in the air when Sycamore gave a questioning look. “Civil, global, ect. When was the last time bloodshed occurred on a massive scale?”

“I’m not a history professor, but…at least one-hundred and fifty years ago, with the last revolution and the institution of the current constitution?”

“Ah. Okay. Now, when was the last time any _ally_ of Kalos was at war, or any country that Kalos has interest or influence in was at war?”

Sycamore frowned in thought. “It’s possibly been much longer than that.”

Brienne spat out a dry laugh as soon as that answer registered, and kept laughing, a dry, hurt, almost unbelieving laugh that was nearly insulting.

Sycamore frowned harder. “What is so amusing?”

“Oh, oh I’m not amused. It’s laugh or cry, at this point.” She ran a hand over her face, a sad attempt to rub away the weariness. “There was not nearly enough caffeine in that coffee for this.”

“Your point.” Sycamore nearly growled.

“On my planet, my world, my dimension, Earth, there is about ten thousand years of recorded history. Of it, in total, is _twenty-seven_ years of peace. _Globally_. And it’s not consecutive. War is something I have grown up hearing about in the daily news. Inequality and hate and starvation and disease and genocide and financial fraud and terrorism and riots, every damn day on the news, depending on what part of the world you look at. In most places, they team up, pounding and pounding until pain is all you can see with no way out.

“My point, Professor Sycamore,” And she was crying, now, because that was her home, and she hated it and loved it all at the same time, “Is that for some inexplicable reason I was dropped here in my goddamn _nightclothes and nothing else_ , given two psychic Pokémon eggs, and told to go on my merry way, in the Utopic land of miracle creatures!” She sucked in a strangled gasp of air. “I miss home and my family and my friends that I grew up with and _everything_ that I know, but I look around at this place and think I shouldn’t look the gift horse in the mouth because this place is pretty damn close to perfect! _That_ is my story, Professor. I hope by now you believe me, because I don’t think I can keep a coherent sentence through my tears anymore.”

Brienne grit her teeth and let the shaking sobs come. Let him see. He’d revealed it.  
She wasn’t angry. She just hurt in ways that were nowhere near healed yet.

Sycamore hadn’t said anything in response. She heard him get up and open the door, heard his footsteps leaving.

Well, if that was her invitation to leave, she’d wait until she was done crying first. The office was private enough for that.

She’d been sitting for a couple minutes when Professor Sycamore came back. At this point, she’d brought her knees up to her chest and was resting her head on them, arms wrapped around her legs.

“I am sorry, Brienne. I did not know it would hurt you that much.” His voice came from close to her, just in front of her. She fuzzily bleared at him. “Please, forgive me, and drink this? It will help you feel a little better, if nothing else.” Professor Sycamore kneeled in front of her, holding a ceramic tea cup and saucer, steam gently wafting from the liquid inside.

Brienne took the teacup, wrapping her hands around it and leaving the saucer. She sniffed away a couple tears. “Grace makes tea, too, when things are upsetting.” She sipped and swallowed.

“Yes, she does. I learned it from her. Helpful habit.” This time he sat on the floor, legs crossed, sipping his own cup of tea as he waited.

“I…I have this cat at home. Toby. He’s just a cat. Not a Meowth or a Skitty or anything else. Just a rangy old orange and white tabby. I met him when I was ten; he literally followed me home and just started purring. He purrs in my face when I cry, and he curls up to sleep with me in the winter. And it gets cold in Maryland. He’s fifteen now.” She sniffed. “Most housecats live to about twenty, if they’re lucky. Fifteen’s old for a cat. I miss him. I hope he waits for me.” She took another swallow of the tea. “I want to go home, Professor Sycamore, if for nothing else than to get my cat. The gyms just fill the time between.”

“I will do my best to help you, Brienne.”

She met his eyes. “Thank you.”

~*~

Augustine Sycamore watched as Miss Lalonde exited the Labs, sliding into the front passenger seat of the waiting, pre-paid taxi. It was honestly the least he could do, after what he had done to her. The taxi drove off towards the South Boulevard Pokémon Center, and Sycamore turned away from the third floor window.

He sat down and sighed, dropping his face in his hands. He believed her. Arceus knows why, but he did. It seemed a world without Pokémon did exist, and it was much more violent than the one he lived in. He honestly didn’t know what to think. He’d given her the folder with all the information he’d been able to gather, names and dates and places and Pokémon and the few photos he had security clearance for. Maybe she would be able to make better use of it than he could.

The cold, silent echo of Miss Lalonde’s words still bounced in his head, making him shiver.

_“Have you ever heard of something called a ‘school shooting?’ Well, it’s exactly as it sounds. Some asshole gets it in his head to pick up a gun, go to a school, and shoot people dead. There have been many in my country, to the point where the newscasters turn apathetic.”_

Sycamore all of a sudden counted himself lucky to live in the world he did.

It was past five o’clock. He could afford to bring out the alcohol and call it a day.

Glass with bourbon in hand, he picked up the phone and dialed a number he memorized long ago, and hadn’t called often.

She picked up after three rings. “Ah, hello, Grace. I’m sorry for calling a bit late. Just felt I should.

_“You talked to Brienne alone, didn’t you?”_

Sycamore blinked. “How can you tell?”

_“I had the same tone to my voice for a whole day after Brienne told me a few things. I hope you’ve forgone the tea and gone straight for the alcohol, this time.”_

“Both, I’m afraid.”

_“Oh, dear. Do you want me to make a trip up?”_

“No, I can handle it. I’m just a little blown away, is all. I almost don’t understand how she’s so cheerful with her Pokémon, after all that.”

_“It’s because of her Pokémon that she is. She sees them as miracles, and takes them as such. She got dropped into this world out of nowhere, and as much as she misses home, and her family, she’s cherishing the time she’s got here. She got a free pass to heaven, as she sees it, and she’s not going to waste it. She’s just a little, conflicted, right now, because home is home, no matter what.”_

“So I see. I wish I’d been able to earlier.”

_“Did you give her anything on what you’d found?”_

“Yes, I did. The whole folder. She promised to keep it out of sight, and I believe that. What she does with that info is completely up to her.”

 _“Mmm. All right.”_ A pause on the other end. _“Have you met the rest of the group yet?”_

“No. Brienne said that they’d arrive tomorrow, and their visit here will most likely take top priority.”

 _“Oh, goodie!”_ The change in tone was somewhat abrupt. _“Keep an eye on how Brienne reacts to both Shauna and Calem. I’m pretty sure she has a crush on them both.”_

Sycamore took a large swallow of his bourbon, and savored the wince it caused. “Grace, don’t tell me you’re watching the love lives of late teens.”

_“Yes, yes I am. It’s the most entertaining thing in all of Kalos. Especially since one of them happens to be my foundling. Soap operas can’t hope to match. You have to let me know how things are going when you see them together!”_

He sighed loudly into the receiver. “Fine, fine, you win. I’ll call you afterwards. Happy?”

_“Mercí! Yes, very! Hear from you soon, Augustine. Don’t drink too much, or you’ll be hung over and have to deal with five young, excitable people!”_

Sycamore snorted. “A fitting punishment, I would think. Goodnight, Grace.”

 _“Night!”_ The phone clicked on the other side, and Sycamore hung up. He contemplated the reflections the late afternoon sun made in his glass as he thought about what he’d learned today.


	6. The Light of Day in Lumiose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day two of Lumiose City, where Brienne gains a new partner, meets a few people, and pledges herself to a challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The temp job has proven itself to make me very not-busy this month. Have a new chapter in celebration of me having a job, regardless.   
> ...I'm just hoping I'm not working Halloween. That would suck greatly.

The next day had a much slower start than the last two before it. Brienne woke up at ten a.m., eyes gritty and sore from the emotional outburst last night that had stuck around long after she had eaten and gone to bed.

She’d taken her time in the shower, as the hot water pounded away on the bunched up muscles in her shoulders and neck. Crying always had put her out of sorts.

Lunch had just started in the Center cafeteria when she walked in at just past eleven in the morning. She was content to pile up a big lunch for herself and her Pokémon, and wait for her friends to arrive. They were all early-birds, anyway, so it shouldn’t be much of a wait.

Her hunch proved true when all four of them tromped into the cafeteria, Shauna and Tierno providing most of the exuberance for the group.

“Hey, Trevor, do you think we could go see a Cirque du Solei performance while we’re here? I saw a sign for their upcoming performances. Maybe we could” Trevor cut Tierno off.

“No, Tierno, jumping onto the stage after the act is on the ‘do not do’ list. That would probably get you banned, like that older gentleman last year for attempting to shave one of the performers.”

“But--!”

Trevor glowered. “No.”

“Aaawww…” Tierno pouted.

Brienne chuckled as the four finally reached her table. “’Sup, guys?”

“Bri!” Shauna squealed and tackleglomped the other girl, forcing the chair back on two legs for a precarious second.

“Whoa, Shauna, careful. I know you missed me, but the chair can’t take your enthusiasm.” She wrapped her arms around the taller girl anyway. It was nice to have a hug.

Calem simply rolled his eyes. “Ready to go see Professor Sycamore, neighbor? We need to go check in. Have you had your daily dose of caffeine, or are we going to be subjected to that sight again?”

Brienne would have gestured, but Shauna was still hugging her. “Yes, I’ve had my morning coffee. What, couldn’t take your first sight of a badass? Poor thing.” She grinned wryly.

She received a scoff in reply.

Trevor grumped from his place besides Tierno. “Can we get going? We took a bit too long sight-seeing. I know it’s a big city, but we’ve really got stuff we need to do.”

Everyone sighed and grumbled an affirmative.

~*~

The laboratory in the noon light only made it slightly more impressive. Trevor, being the city local, had led the way through the main streets. Brienne happily followed along, awake enough this time to appreciate the sights, using them as a distraction from her thoughts of yesterday evening.

Shauna was the first one up to the secretary when they arrived, and Adele pointed them all up to the third floor, last door all the way down the hall.

The professor himself was in full entertainment mode when the whole group arrived.

“So, we finally meet! Trevor, my thanks for delivering the three starter Pokémon. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Trevor nodded, his hands in his pockets as he stood to one side.

“Shauna, Calem, Brienne, I am so glad you took my offer to become Pokémon Trainers of Kalos.  I was thinking of only offering this chance to one trainer, but then I realized the search for any and all information on Mega-Evolution would take more than one person to complete.” He smiled brightly at the three of them, hoping, perhaps, to awe them.

Brienne wasn’t very awed.

Shauna was, her eyes growing wider and brighter at the thought of helping a renowned professor with his work. Calem was trying to hide it, his arms crossed and weight on one hip, but Brienne saw that his eyes were absolutely locked on the professor. He wanted more information.

Sycamore continued with his spiel. “I also hope that you five can fill your Pokédexes to the absolute brim with information about every Pokémon you come across! Pokémon are ever-changing, and sometimes this is the only way to keep up!”

Trevor grinned. “I found thirty-five different Pokémon on my way here. If I’d had more time to wander around Santalune forest, I’m pretty sure I could have found more.”

Sycamore perked up, true interest growing on his face. “Truly? Tre magnifique! If you want to stay a bit longer, Trevor, and show me, we can have a discussion over tea?”

Trevor had the brightest grin Brienne had seen yet from him on his face. “I’d like that, professor!”

“Mmm. Now,” The older man turned back towards the group of dedicated trainers. “Business before pleasure, I suppose. I want to see how strong your Pokémon have gotten, with one badge already under your belts! Do any of you wish to battle? Go ahead and decide among yourselves.” With a wave of a hand, Sycamore backed off and allowed Shauna, Brienne and Calem to put their heads together.

“I totally don’t mind if it’s one of you two, guys.” Shauna shrugged as her eyes bounced between Calem and Brienne. “I haven’t gotten much training done yet, and you two are the ones with badges.”

Calem pursed his lips in thought. “Sycamore has never been known for his battling prowess. There’s a reason he’s a professor.”

“I want to battle him.” Brienne said, eyes dark.

Calem blinked in surprise. “Oh…kay? Sure. It’s not too horribly important.” He shrugged, retreating from whatever was hidden in Brienne’s low tone.  “He’s all yours. How ‘bout you show him some of that craziness you unleased at Santalune gym.” He grinned.

Brienne didn’t respond, hand already sliding down to her three pokéballs. “I’ll battle you, Professor.”

“Oh, fantastic!” He grinned, pulling out a small box, already open, that held three pokéballs. “A three-on-three battle, with no substitutions all right with you?”

“Perfectly fine, Professor. I’m ready when you are.”

Everyone else in the lab backed off to give the two space, especially since the rest of the group knew a little bit of Brienne’s battle style. Hard and fast was not a battle style well suited to small spaces.

“Calem, would you be our referee?” Sycamore asked.

Calem nodded. “Three-on-three battle, no substitutions from either side. Begin!”

Sycamore was the first to release his Pokémon. “Squirtle, I choose you!”

Brienne blinked at the Pokémon. It honestly looked like someone had turned a turtle blue and given it a really long, fluffy tail. Whatever. It was time to battle, and she wanted to leave an impression.

“Kanaya, go!”

The young psychic Pokémon appeared, hands held out in front of her. **_“Is this the bastard that made you cry?”_**

The aggressive tone from her normally calm Pokémon surprised her. “Yes, Kanaya, but it’s all right…”

**_“No, no it’s not! He shouldn’t have asked you to go that far!”_ **

Sycamore was the only one who really didn’t know that Brienne’s Ralts were constantly talking with her.

“Just so you know, I’m not that tough!” Sycamore called out. “Let’s go Squirtle! Bubble!”

The water Pokémon reared its head back to attack.

Kanaya was pissed. **_“I’m going to hand you your ass!”_** She about flew into motion, her agility blurring into double team almost immediately, without command from Brienne.

The bubble beam missed completely.

Brienne tried to reassert something resembling control. “Magical leaf, Kanaya!”

The multi-colored leaves shimmered into existence and shredded the water turtle, leaving bright red lines of damage everywhere there wasn’t a shell.

Sycamore blinked in surprise at the Ralts’ speed. “Okay Squirtle, speed up and tackle it!” He called out encouragingly.

The turtle tottered forward and gathered speed, head forward to barrel into a tackle. Kanaya slowed down, but only enough to concentrate and glow a bright pink.

“Oh, whoa, Kanaya…?” Brienne hadn’t seen this before.

The pink light shot from Kanaya and impacted the Squirtle, leaving it reeling. The tackle attack never made contact.

“Did you just use confusion?”

Calem raised his hand towards Brienne’s side of the field. “Squirtle is unwilling to battle. Round one goes to Brienne.”

The poor Squirtle had sat down where it stood, shaking its head in its hands.

Sycamore sighed and nodded. “Thank you Squirtle.” Red light flashed and Squirtle vanished.

**_“That’s what you get for making Brienne cry!_** Ralts, ralts!” Kanaya stood there, barely breathing hard, her hands clenched into fists, her glare attempting to burn a hole in Sycamore’s head.

“Kanaya, return.”

Kanaya jerked and spun to stare at her trainer. **_“But…!”_**

Brienne voice was soft and brooked no argument. “Now.”

Kanaya stomped her way to behind her trainer, mentally grumbling the whole way.

“Your Ralts is amazingly fast, Brienne!” Sycamore complimented from his side of the field. “I’m surprised!”

“Thank you. That was Kanaya.” Brienne’s voice was flat, even though she could feel the satisfaction from her Pokémon.

“All right! Next round! Go, Charmander!” Sycamore released his second Pokémon.

Brienne thought a chibi dragon had appeared on the field. Orange scales, bright blue eyes, and a tail that held fire on the very end. “Char, char!”

Right. Deal with the cute later. Battle now. “We’re doing this, man! Go, Dirk!”

Dirk was completely still when the white light faded, eyes locked on his opponent. _“You’re done.”_

“Charmander, ember!” Sycamore called out the attack just as Dirk disappeared from Brienne’s side of the field. “What?”

Both Sycamore and Charmander looked around for the vanished Ralts in confusion before the area around Charmander exploded in multi-colored, shimmering light. Dirk reappeared as multiple, somewhat alarming, cuts appeared on Charmander’s flank. In one hand, Dirk held a gently curved line of shimmering leaves.

Brienne couldn’t help it. She smiled. “Good, Dirk. Again.”

Dirk vanished again before either Sycamore or Charmander could get a word in edgewise. More light, more slashes, and Dirk reappeared this time in front of Brienne as the magical leaf dispersed.

Charmander curled up, admitting defeat. It didn’t want to battle a Pokémon that moved _that_ fast. Nope.

“Charmander is unwilling to battle. Brienne wins round two.” Calem called out when he remembered to pull his jaw up off the ground.

Sycamore returned Charmander to his pokéball. “I have not seen a Ralts do that before, and with so little command.” Sycamore had a feeling he was well out of his league.

“Thank you. Dirk is very fond of speed, more so than Kanaya.” Brienne shrugged. “We’ve been working on it since we got into Santalune forest.”

_ “Do not. Ever. Make my trainer cry again. Or I will do that to you.” _

Brienne blanched at the vehemence in Dirk’s mental voice. “Dirk! Return!”

Dirk spun on his heel and flash-stepped next to his sister.

Sycamore shivered as a chill ran down his spine. “Bulbasaur, it’s time to battle!”

Brienne didn’t know what to make of this Pokémon, besides ‘walking plant.’

“Saaaauur!” It seemed much more willing to battle, however.

“Right. Walking plant. Well, this one is easy.” She looked up at Sycamore and grimaced. “Sorry, but I think you know what’s coming.”

Sycamore paled. “Oh.”

“Go, Dresden!” The fire-fox came out growling, and the rest of the blood drained from Sycamore’s face as he realized just how one-sided this whole match was about to be.

“Bulbasaur, quick, vine-whip!” Sycamore spat, attempting to make one hit.

The vines sped out of the bulb on top of the monster’s back, and slapped Dresden on the side as he dodged. Dresden just growled louder.

“Dresden, flame charge!”

The poor Bulbasaur didn’t stand a chance.

“Bulbasaur is unable to battle. Fennekin wins the battle. Brienne wins the match!” Calem called, in his duty as referee. At this point it was just formality.

Sycamore returned the charred and toasted grass Pokémon, looking a good bit blown away.

“That…that was quite a battle.” The professor came forward to shake Brienne’s hand. “I was not expecting that.” They shook, and Brienne could feel slight tremors in his hand, though he smiled at her. She wasn’t sure if he was actually scared, or if this was just his come-down from the rather one-sided battle. Dresden growled at him from his position on the floor at Brienne’s feet.

_ “He’s saying Sycamore better back the hell off.” _

Brienne shot a quick glare at Dresden but otherwise ignored them.

“You have a certain…” He thought for a second. “Je ne sais quoi, to your battle tactics. I’m glad you’re adapting well. And I assume that Calem and Shauna are the same?” He broke eye-contact with Brienne to bring the others back into the conversation.

Brienne smiled. “Of a sort. We haven’t trained together yet.”

“Aaaah. You should soon! It could give you new ideas on how to battle!” He reached back for the box that held the three battered Pokémon. “Here, as a reward for winning, you get first pick of the three. Which one do you want?”

All three of them started. They were getting another Pokémon without having to battle for it. Awesome.

Brienne thought back to the battles. She didn’t want the water type. It just didn’t jive, deep in her gut. The fire type, Charmander, was cute, and if she didn’t have Fennekin she’d go for it. Dragons were just plain cool. But she didn’t need another fire type, and she was already strong on psychic types. If travelling for just two days had taught her anything, it was that there was a wide, _wide_ range of Pokémon out there.

She sighed. The grass type it was.

“Bulbasaur, please.”

Sycamore nodded, and handed her the corresponding pokéball. “And what about you two?”

Calem spoke first. “Charmander. I think I need a fire-type.”

Shauna squealed. “Squirtle is so cute!” She cuddled the pokéball close to her chest.

Brienne stared down at the pokéball holding her newest companion. “Saturn.”

“What?” Calem stared.

Brienne shrank the pokéball and clicked it to her belt. Number four. “I’m naming…him?” She glanced at Sycamore for confirmation. “I’m naming him Saturn. It fits, I think.”

Sycamore shoved a hand into his deep lab coat pocket. “Ah, one more thing I need to give you.” Three brilliantly colored, faintly glowing stones were held in his hand. “These stones will help your newly acquired Pokémon mega-evolve. You each get one corresponding to your Pokémon. Brienne,” To her he handed a teal and pink marble, the colors twining like a DNA helix. “Venusaurite. Calem, you get Charizardite X.” This marble was electric blue and grey. “Charizard, for some reason, have two mega-stones that correspond to them. Should you find the Y version, feel free to switch out with that one. To Shauna,” The last marble was sky blue and an earthy brown. “Blastoisinite. Now, when you head out to investigate Mega-evolution, because you can’t just do it with those stones alone, start with Camphrier Town. There is a good bit of history there that may help you.”

Professor Sycamore clapped his hands. “All right! You are free, my Trainers of Kalos! Go forth, and become the best trainer you can be! I wish you all the luck you can find!”

~*~

Brienne hung back as the group trotted back to the elevator, excited to have the rest of the day to explore Lumiose City.

The elevator doors were already closing when she got there. “Someone push the door open button!”  Shauna called. Her voice was a bit muffled.

“It’s okay! I’ll catch the next one.” She waved them off, and the doors rumbled shut. Footsteps behind her made her turn around to face Professor Sycamore.

“Peeked at the folder yet?” His face was open, passive, and completely non-confrontational. If this had been any other time, it would have been conversational.

Brienne snorted. “After a day like yesterday? I went back to the Center, ate dinner, and dropped dead asleep.” She shrugged. “I already know I’m not going anywhere any time soon. I’ll probably look at it somewhere on the road. No hurry.”

“Mmm.” He nodded, once. “Once again, Brienne, I want to apologize, and offer my services should you find yourself stuck at any point.” He tilted his head, a small, roguish smile on his face. “Let me give you my Holo-Caster ID. I generally have it on me most of the time.”

Brienne nodded. “Okay.” She met his smile with a tentative one of her own.

~*~

When Brienne met the others in the Lab waiting room, she found them surrounding a tall, red-headed man with the spikiest hair she’d seen out of anime conventions. She caught up with them in the middle of a point.

“There is so much in this world that could be improved upon! How we create and consume energy, environmental health, agriculture distribution. I’m glad Professor Sycamore has given you Pokédexes. It will give you the chance to travel Kalos and see, exactly, what _needs_ to change.”

She took in his sharp cut suit and bright red ascot right as he took a breath and noticed that she had joined the group. Brienne had to crane her head back to meet his eyes.

“…And you are?” He drawled, the condescension dripping from his tone.

She tried to hold back the sign of annoyance on her face and in her voice. “Brienne Lalonde. One of Professor Sycamore’s patron trainers.”

“Ah. Another chosen one. Forgive me.” He continued on, not waiting for an answer. “I want to see this land, this _world_ , become the very best it could be, with nothing to mar its beauty.”

Brienne quirked an eyebrow. Was he giving a lecture or a monologue? “How so? With solar energy absorption made widely available? That would solve pretty much all of your energy costs.”

He blinked at her. “Yes. That is one way.” He cleared his throat. “If you would excuse me, I have somewhere to be. Please give my regards to the Professor.” He turned on his heel and strode out of the labs.

Brienne blinked after him, feeling the presence in the air dissipate in his absence as her friends broke out of their stunned silence. She agreed with him. Any world—and she spoke from experience—could be made to be more beautiful. There was always room for improvement. Now if he just wasn’t such a dick about it.

“Wow. I’ve never wanted to agree with an asshole before. This is a first for me.” She folded her arms and shrugged to herself.

Tierno and Trevor stammered in surprise at her language. Shauna turned bright pink, a color that Brienne thought looked very good on her.

Calem hissed in disapproval.  “Watch it!”

“What?” She blinked at him. “He left.” She shrugged again.

“Brienne.” She could hear the disappointment in his tone.

“Oh, fiiiiiiiine. I’ll keep it clean.” Her eyes rolled and she huffed. “Geeze.”

Shauna broke through her second-hand embarrassment. “Hey guys, I really want to go explore Lumiose, there were a bunch of shops that caught my eye. I’ll catch up with you in Camphrier Town, okay?” And with that, Shauna half-skipped, half-dashed out the door.

Brienne blinked at Calem. “Sales?”

He nodded. “Sales.” He cleared his throat and swallowed, trying to build himself up. “Brienne, do you think you could meet me at Café Soleil in an hour? I want to talk to you about something, and I’ve heard they’ve got nice drinks.”

She couldn’t help herself. She blushed. Damn her pale skin. “Sure. See you there.”

Calem nodded and walked off in a hurry.

Tierno chuckled as they watched him go. “It’s rare you see him so flustered. It’s funny whenever it happens. I think last time was his fifteenth birthday.”

“Oh?” Brienne eyed the two of them sideways. “Do tell.”

“Well…” Trevor paused to think. “We were at La Lune, it’s on North Boulevard, and when the waiters came to sing happy birthday, there was one waitress that got kind of close to him in his seat. She was…how do I…” He made cupping motions in front of his chest. “He turned as red as a tomato. The waitress probably thought he enjoyed it. She had that look on her face.” Trevor shrugged.

“Pffft.” Brienne covered her mouth with a hand. “That’s kind of adorable.”

“Yeap.” Tierno agreed, popping the ‘p’.

“So.” She turned to look at them fully. “What are you two going to do?”

“Probably just stop in a couple places, and then hit Route five.” Tierno said, scratching his head. “I’m here a lot, visiting Trevor, so as awesome as this place is; I’ve seen a lot of it. And the Pokémon are out there.”

Trevor nodded in agreement. “I live here. I want to see other places.”

“Cool beans. See you around, then?” Brienne hugged them both.

“Yeap!” They chorused.

~*~

Café Soleil was an open, spacious enterprise, with large windows in front and warm gold tones inviting patronage. There were a few tables that served as outdoor seating, and only one of those was occupied at the time. Brienne walked into the café, Kanaya in her arms, and cast around for Calem.

She spotted him when he waved her over to a back corner. It was probably the quietest spot in the café, and was easily the most private.

“Hey,” She greeted, setting Kanaya down on the table in front of her and sliding into the seat.

“Hi. Glad you made it.”

“…Lumiose City is huge.” Brienne flopped back against the chair.

Calem quirked an eyebrow. “Did you get lost?”

“…Once.”

He snorted softly through his nose, trying to hide his amusement.

“Hey! This place is a maze!”

“There are these things called taxis that will take you anywhere you want to go for a small fee.”

She grumped at him. “Small fee my butt! I’d rather walk.”

“Ah-huh. Right.” He smiled, just a little bit smug. “Anyway. Lysandre walked in about fifteen minutes before you did, and sat down over in the other corner. See who he’s sitting with? That’s Diantha.” He gestured with his chin to the corner opposite, where bright orange hair was dimmed by shadow, and a delicate, almost graceful form faced him.

“Huh. He seems to be all over the place. Didn’t he have something important to do? And who’s Diantha?” They both concentrated on the other pair, unabashedly spying.

Curiosity may have been a killer, but satisfaction was great for resurrection.

Calem shrugged. “Famous actress. He must’ve finished it. Can you hear what they’re saying?”

“Nope. But we _can_ move closer, long as we aren’t obvious about it.”

The two promptly got out of their seats.

Kanaya rolled her eyes under her bowl of green hair.

They settled into a table as close as possibly feasible, and the conversation became audible as Diantha and Lysandre’s conversation rose in volume.

“You played a beautiful young girl in your silver screen debut. Wouldn’t you rather stay young? There will always be roles for young, beautiful girls, something to always be admired.” Lysandre’s voice was low with frustration.

“You pose an odd question. Why would I want to play the same role forever? I’d get bored! And that’s not all there is to life. Life changes. Everything in it changes, and there is beauty in that change. And I’m looking forward to playing different roles as I age. I want a challenge, much more than I ever want to be admired.”

“You were chosen to be a movie star, yes?” Lysandre’s fists were visibly clenched at this point. He knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere anymore. “It’s your duty to be ever beautiful.”

Diantha placed a hand gently on Lysandre’s fist. “Even beauty changes, Lysandre.”

He jerked his fist away and stood up abruptly, spotting Brienne and Calem as he spun to leave. “Oh, Miss Lalonde, Mr. Remont. I didn’t know you were here. May I introduce Diantha? She is a very well accomplished actress in Kalos, and an acquaintance of mine. Her acting has made so many people happy, has made this world more beautiful.” He sighed. “If you would excuse me, once more, I have another appointment to keep.”

All three watched in silent amazement as he all but stormed out of the café.

“Oh my. That could have gone better.” She shook her head and smiled, coming over to greet the trainers. “Miss…Lalonde, Mr. Remont, was it? Pleased to meet you.”

Calem blushed hard. “Hello.”

“Hi! Call me Brienne, please. Aaaaand,” She glimpsed over at Calem, who was doing his best impression of a tomato. “He probably wouldn’t mind going by Calem.” She giggled. He was going to get teased about this for ages.

“Brienne, Calem, pleasure!”

**_“She has a Gardevoir, Brienne. It’s talking to me I can’t believe it oh my gosh a Gardevoir!”_ **

“Kanaya…? Are you okay?” She peered back at her Ralts, who had her hands up to her face and was vibrating in place.

“Oh!” Diantha’s whole demeanor changed from polite interest to sincere curiosity and joy. “That is an adorable Ralts. Are you trainers? Is it yours? Can I talk to her?”

“Ah, sure.” Brienne stepped back to give her room, and squeaked as Dirk escaped his pokéball.

_ “I want to talk to her too! Oh, man…” _

Diantha squealed in excitement as Dirk appeared next to his sister. “You have two! Oh you lucky girl! Hello there!”

Brienne was taken aback. “They’re twins.”

“Oh my goodness that does not happen often! You are very lucky to have them. And they look to be in absolutely wonderful shape. I think they’ll evolve soon!” Diantha patted both Dirk and Kanaya on the head before stepping away, sighing softly.

“I look forward to battling you one day, once these two have trained a bit more. I see a lot of potential in them.” She nodded to them both. “Good afternoon to you both!”

And with that, Diantha left the café, humming with a spring in her step.

Calem said his first word in ten minutes. “Wow.”

“You can say that again.”

“Wow.” Calem grinned.

Brienne rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh. So! What did you want to talk about? Or was this just to get me on a date with you?” She grinned back.

“N-no! Not a date!” He huffed. “Look, I want to challenge you.” He looked away, shy again. “You’re doing really well training your Pokémon, and you’ve said you don’t have much experience. I want to compete against you and see who ends up stronger.”

“You want a rival?” Brienne felt the beginnings of a blush coming on.

“ _Yes._ Very much so. It’ll make us both stronger in the long run. And, I don’t plan on losing.” The emphatic response made Brienne blush harder. Calem was determined.

“Okay. I agree.” She smiled through the blush. “Rival.”

Calem grinned and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real reason I'm posting a new chapter is that I wrote just under 40,000 words of the Looker post-game plot line in eight days.   
> I wrote a goddamn novel in eight days. And that's on the whole other end of the story. NOT ONLY THAT, but writing the Looker plot gave me an idea on how I'm going to wrap up the WHOLE story, and not just bullshit the end of it. It'll be awesome. You'll start seeing signs of it soon.   
> I just...I needed to put something up so I can continue to feel productive. Those eight days made me feel like the hand of the muse was on my shoulder and the lack of it is...jarring. I want to keep going at that pace but nooooooo.....  
> It was awesome, guys, it really was.


	7. Where Destiny Hovers in the Far Distance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Brienne discovers that Gods and Monsters are a bit more active in the world than anyone truly knew. It's a sobering thought.
> 
> Image heavy chapter warning. Random editing may occur if images do not appear as I wish them (this is my first time doing this). Expect chapter to randomly appear/disappear until I'm satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Image heavy chapter warning. Random editing may occur if images do not appear as I wish them (this is my first time doing this). Expect chapter to randomly appear/disappear until I'm satisfied.

Once Brienne left the café, she found herself at a bit of a loss. Checking the map for her next destination, she winced when she saw that Camphrier Town was, once again, most of a day’s walk away.  It was already three p.m., and she had no intention of camping out until she absolutely had to. She was a city girl by nature, if a quiet one, and marathon walking wasn’t what she was used to.

At least the pain in her thighs, calves, and butt told her it’d do amazing things for her legs later.

She sighed, looked around at her surroundings, and decided she’d wander a little bit. As long as she stuck to the main street, she was pretty positive she wouldn’t get lost again. Eyeing some passing roller-skaters, she tapped her heels together, feeling a bit like Dorothy. The skates Calem had won for them all had been of an odd clamp-on variety that fit snugly onto the bottom of her boots. (The boots, she swore, were a gift from God himself, as she’d been walking for two days straight and hadn’t gotten a blister yet.)

She took one hesitant step forward, then another, pushing with some force and feeling the wheels under her start to turn. It’d been ages since she’d worn skates, a small, short-lived fad when she was ten. The basics came back to her as she moved. Use inward diagonal lines to push forward, don’t move faster than what you feel comfortable with. The rhythm settled into her legs and hips, and she kept her eyes more on her surroundings than what her feet were doing.

Sharp turns caused her to stop, but that was okay.

Her first stop was for a late lunch. She had money to burn, for once in her life. What with defeating Viola, all the trainers on Route 3, and Professor Sycamore—and really, was the man crazy? He gave her a new Pokémon, money, _and_ a shiny magic stone that does something, what the hell—she felt like she could seriously indulge herself and still have money to get supplies at the Center left over. It was a pleasant feeling.

What had attracted Brienne to the open-air food-stand was the smell. Barbeque. Someone was roasting barbeque. Her mouth watered suddenly and she had the strongest urge for fries, the biggest sandwich she could get her hands on, and a huge soda. She felt like her stomach got to the stand before her feet did.

She rang the bell, and the largest, reddest bipedal bird that she had ever seen appeared around a small partition set up. “Blaz-Ken!”

She blinked. “Uhhh…hi?” The Pokédex came out on instinct. The bird simply raised an eyebrow, the expression surprisingly human.

 _‘Blaziken,’_ It read, _‘The Blaze Pokémon. It can clear a thirty-story building in a leap. Its fiery punches scorch its foes.’_

“Wow. It’ll _suck_ if I have to battle something like you.” She whistled, and the Blaziken gained a slightly smug look on its face.

“Oh, hey, do we have a customer, Blaze?” Another voice came from behind the partition. “I’m sorry, Blaze tends to be a little intimidating when I’m not in front.” A taller, thin man revealed himself and came to stand next to the Blaziken. Brienne wondered if this guy was an alternate reality version of David Tennant. “Welcome to Nova BBQ! What can I get you?”

Brienne tore her gaze away from the pair to glimpse at the menu posted to the top frame of the stand. Some of the items went a bit over her head, but not enough to dissuade her from the awesome, mouth-watering smell that was causing her stomach to turn into a raging monster for.

“Oh god yes,” she muttered, when her eyes caught on a line near the bottom. “Pork-rib sandwich, please, and the largest serving of fries that you’ve got.”

“Coming right up! What level of heat do you want your barbeque sauce?” The Blaziken was already in motion, pulling out supplies and pieces to make the whole sandwich.

“Mmm...what do you have?” She tilted her head at a sign in the corner, but couldn’t quite make it out.

“There’s the honey-chicory, which is pretty mild, but well on the sweet and savory side of things. There’s the roasted jalapeno, my hottest mix, if you want some serious fire. And then there’s today’s special, which I just finished figuring out, and I’d be grateful if you could try it out.” His face was all grin, just daring her to jump into adventure with him, his eyes lit up like two bright torches.

Brienne bit her lip. The honey-chicory was calling out to her. She knew it from home and eating that would be like a hug. But damn, this guy’s face was hard to say no to. Really hard.

“All right.” She sighed and gave him a rueful smile. “Gimme the special. Though I have to ask what’s in it.”

If it was possible, the cook brightened even more. “Brilliant! Blaze, bring it out, would you?”

The Blaziken nodded and turned off.

“Ah, well, I really shouldn’t say…” He clapped his hands and rose on the balls of his feet. “Bah. It’s what I want to call a ‘roasted apple pie.’ It’s apples, reduced completely, with cinnamon, black pepper, and just a little bit of lemon juice for tartness.” He grinned.

The sandwich was placed in a holder, along with a side of fries. “Toppings?”

“Lettuce, tomato, and onion.” Blaziken once again did the work, dropping the add-ons into the sandwich.

“Anything to drink?”

“The biggest cold caffeinated drink you’ve got, plus a water for later.”

He nodded and went to pull them out. Brienne pulled out her wallet from her pocket, shuffling through bills. “Ah, quick question.”

They both looked up at her, mid-motion.

“Think you could whip something up for my Pokémon? I’ve got a couple Ralts, a Fennekin, and a Bulbasaur so a sandwich or two would work, plus two bowls? A vegetarian dish, maybe?” She paused, then added, “I’ll pay double whatever my bill is.”

“Oh! You’re a trainer? Sure, no problem! Any of them like spicy food?” He didn’t give her a chance to respond right away. “I was a trainer too, back in Hoenn. I got through…five gyms, and decided I’d rather battle food in Unova than Pokémon. I somehow ended up here.”

“That explains the Blaziken.” She eyed the fire-bird. He snorted out a small cloud of smoke.

“So, where ya from? When’d ya start, c’mon, don’t leave me hanging…”

She blinked at the cook. “Aaah…”

The Blaziken poked him in the side. “Oh! And your total for the meal is $200, and for your Pokémon is $100.”

She quietly handed over the cash. Prices here were exorbitant until you realized what was considered chump change. She somewhat thought it had to do with how the economy worked—she was still trying to figure that one out.

“Ah, Vaniville Town, just three days ago, and my starter was Fennekin.” She took her food, and the cook motioned to a table just off to the side. She plopped down in the somewhat cheap foldout chair and he joined her, chin-handing and eyes locked on her in interest.

“Oooh, pop’em out. Their food will be ready in a minute, anyway. Blaze is handling it.”

She tapped open all four pokéballs. Dirk and Kanaya appeared on the table, forcing the cook to lean back to give them space. Dresden claimed her lap, and Saturn, her Bulbasaur, landed squarely on her feet.

She eyed the cook as her Pokémon stretched out, Dresden making use of his nose and sniffing the food. “You know what? I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Brienne.”

The cook laughed. “John. Nice to meet you.”

“…Your last name wouldn’t happen to be Smith, would it?”

John blinked at her, surprised. “How’d you know?”

Brienne tried her hardest not to facepalm. She failed. “Just a guess.” She didn’t come out of her facepalm until Blaze brought the food over, a few seconds later, eyeing them both.  She sighed and thanked the Blaziken, prodding her first three to eat without her.

“Give me a moment, I just got this Bulbasaur.”

John nodded. “Sure.”

She gently set Dresden next to the Ralts twins to eat, and crouched down next to Bulbasaur, who was looking at her somewhat nervously.

“Hey. I’m Brienne.”

“Bulba.” He eyed her.

“Yeah, I know, last time you were looking at me it was with a fire-type in front of you. It sucked, didn’t it?”

Bulbasaur nodded.

“I won’t apologize for beating you in a legitimate battle. I will, however, apologize for the sheer amount of difference between skill levels.”

The Bulbasaur waited.

“Professor Sycamore gave you to me, so now I’m your trainer. Are you okay with that? I promise to train you to be just as badass as these three stuffing their faces over there.”

Bulbasaur eyed the three on the table, and then looked back at Brienne. He nodded, once. “Bulba-bulb.”

Brienne grinned. “Thank you.” She bit her lip. Bulbasaur waited patiently. “Those three have nicknames, too, and I’ve got one you might like, if you want it. I’ve been told Pokémon don’t always like their nicknames.”

She reached down to scratch his chin, and he head-butted her hand in return. “What do you think about Saturn?”

Bulbasaur thought for a second, turning his head towards the Ralts twins; apparently he was being talked to. He turned his head back after a moment and a grin split his face. “Bulb!”

“Awesome.” She plopped Saturn on the table and gave him his own bowl of food. “My turn to eat!”

She picked up her sandwich and took a huge, unladylike bite. She was starving.

The barbeque sauce hit her tongue as she chewed and she groaned, loudly and nearly pornographic.

John laughed. “Fantastic!”

~*~

Brienne rolled away from the barbeque stand, stomach stuffed to the brim and a half-empty soda in hand. The barbeque had been an exploration for her Pokémon. She’d learned that Dresden was extremely fond of spicy food, and that said spicy food made him burp fire unexpectedly. Both Kanaya and Dirk had been enthusiastic eaters after their first bites. She wondered why, now, they had been picky back in Vaniville. Maybe they didn’t like Grace’s cooking? There were currently low telepathic groans coming from their pokéballs, both of them complaining about how full they were. She snorted in unsympathetic amusement.  
Leftovers were a thing that existed, but they hadn’t believed her. They were paying for it now.  
Saturn had eaten just as ravenously as the others, quite happy to stuff his face after their talk. He had sprawled happily after his meal, quite ready to take a nap. Brienne had quietly pondered the idea of carrying him around while she explored, but changed her mind when Saturn started to snore quietly.

She’d left a large tip in the jar at the barbeque stand, and a promise to come back soon for more of the amazing food.

The skates rolled smoothly under her feet as she continued to explore the southern boulevard. She considered people watching for a while as the sun beat down on her head and shoulders and the warmth made her sleepy.

She was fed, her Pokémon were fed, she didn’t have to be anywhere until tomorrow, and there was very little to worry about. Brienne shrugged and decided to let the path she was on make the choice for her. Something would come up, she was sure of it.

The ambient noise level of the boulevard began to drop as she headed north and west in a gentle curve, until it was down to a gentle whisper compared to what it had been before. While nice on her ears, it sent a chill down her spine that had nothing to do with the growing shadows from the surrounding buildings and mid-afternoon sun.

Against the caution of the little voice in her head to turn back, she kept forward, fists clenched and ears open, for what, she didn’t know.

The boulevard opened up into a great intersection, light filling the broad streets, highlighting a caution barrier that neatly blocked off the continuing road. Brienne stopped and looked toward her left, and her jaw dropped. What had to be in the middle of the city stood a great that looked like a more modern version of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. She honestly couldn’t believe her eyes.

She made to go toward it, but was stopped fifty feet in by another blockade and a man in a construction jacket, official-looking badge pinned to his chest.

“I’m sorry, mademoiselle, but locations beyond this point are off limits to all but those who have homes here. There is a power outage in north Lumiose, and we are keeping the public out for their own safety.” The man apologized; hands open and out for understanding. “There is nothing interesting open in this side of the city, anyway, with the power out.”

Brienne looked past the city guard, to the tower that was dark on the inside but still well lit by the sun. For a moment she eyed the street around her, noting the side alleys that were unblocked, and that they most likely led back into a main street further into north Lumiose.

She bit her lip. “All right. That’s too bad. I wanted to see the tower more closely.” She’d leave it, for now.

The man smiled at her. “We’ll have it up and running as soon as possible.”

Brienne turned and headed back for South Boulevard. She’d only explored one half of it, after all.

~*~

It was ten in the morning when Brienne stepped out of the Route Five terminal onto Versant Road. She wasn’t sure at all what had her moving from place to place as if the devil himself was on her tail, but staying in one place for more than two days raised her hackles and sent ghostly fingers up her spine. She’d woken up that morning with an adrenaline rush that hadn’t disappeared with her dream and used that to speed her way out of the city.

The weight of the camping backpack was still something she was getting used to as she rolled her shoulders. It, frankly, weighed a lot. Grace had sworn she’d need at least most, if not all, of everything in the pack. She still hadn’t pitched her first tent. She wasn’t looking forward to that at all.

She sighed, and looked up at the sky. Blue, and nearly cloudless, and she felt a soft breeze pushing against her cheeks. All signs that it was going to be another very nice day.

Bright red eyes in a black-masked face stared at her from a foot away. Brienne jumped, startled, but couldn’t quite look away from those eyes. Her peripheral vision informed her of pointed, attentive blue ears and a black snout. She still couldn’t look away.

“Carrr…” The Pokémon trilled softly, and backed out of her personal bubble slowly. It circled her, instead, as it examined her from all angles.

~*~

Lucario stalked around the girl, slowly trying to come to terms with what, exactly, his aura sight was telling him. To most, she looked like any other trainer, if one that had over-packed just a little bit. Green t-shirt, jeans, boots, camper pack that weighed heavily on her shoulders, and oddly enough, guitar case in her left hand.

Her aura, on the other hand, had gotten his attention from nearly a quarter of a mile away. He was a little apologetic about forcing his trainer to run all that way, but he was not going to let this get past him. If most people were small, bright stars in the ambient space of the night sky, this girl was a second full moon, beaming enough light to cast shadows in the night and blot out a good many smaller stars.

Few people were this bright, very few. The universe had a tendency to listen whenever they tried to enforce their will upon it. His brood mother had told him, the few people that had this gift made great changes with it, leaving legends in their wake; Sir Aaron, the last King of Kalos, and a few rumors of a Chosen One currently running around.

He blinked, and stared at her belt, where two gloriously bright shooting stars to the girl’s moon were held, and two quieter, softer stars next to them.

Oh. Even the Pokémon themselves had bright auras. He’d met other people with bright auras, but their Pokémon had never matched them for brightness. Those four Pokémon had much potential for growth. Maybe it was because they hadn’t evolved yet. He couldn’t tell, he had to meet them in person.

Yep. He wanted to keep an eye out for this girl. Now, just one last thing.

~*~

“Lucario!” A girl yelled from up ahead. “Wait up!” She caught up to the pair, braking hard on her skates, as a second Lucario brought up the rear. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry; I was working with my Lucario on some special training when this one just dashed off all of a sudden.” Brienne took in her personalized helmet and white and pink skater’s dress as the girl huffed and folded her arms disapprovingly.

“What _was_ that, Lucario? You were doing all right in training, and you’re not one for haring off like that!” Her head tilted. “Did you sense something?”

“Carr, lu-car!”

“Huh. Looks like Lucario was curious. Your aura caught his attention.”

“Ooooh-kaaay?” Brienne quirked an eyebrow at the Lucario that was still checking her out from every angle.

“Argh I did it again!” The skater-girl face-palmed before reaching out a hand. “I get so ahead of myself and what I’m doing I forget all the niceties. I’m Korrina, Shalor City Gym leader.”

“Brienne.” She winced slightly as the handshake ended. She wasn’t a wimp when it came to handshakes, but Korrina could turn an orange into pulp with that squeeze.

“Cool! Lucario’s always been a bit restless, but he’s never gone running off like that before.” Korrina shrugged.

The Lucario had once again gotten into Brienne’s personal space, and was staring her down. Both trainer and gym leader were watching to see what he would do. He reached out a paw, but did not make contact.

“Oh. Hi,” Brienne murmured, and slipped her free hand neatly into his gentle grip.

She gasped as a spark ran up her arm, straight to her spine, where it turned into a warm pressure that spread through the rest of her limbs. A presence settled at the base of her skull, a fuzzy tingling that reminded her of what Dirk and Kanaya had done, the day they had hatched.

_“Lucario. Lu, car!”_

~*~

The path, Korrina, and his battle-brother all faded from sight. There was enough definition in this mental ‘handshake’ mindscape to tell ground from horizon, but that was all. They wouldn’t be here long.

He smiled at the trainer.  “Hello.”

Brienne’s jaw dropped. “What the hell?” She glared at him for a moment, before slumping. “Gah. Whatever. I really shouldn’t expect sanity from my life anymore. Hi. What’s the deal with here?”

Lucario laughed, a deep baritone growing from a chuckle in his chest to a guffaw. “That is one of the calmest reactions I have ever gotten from someone not expecting to fall into a mindscape. Oh, you are _fun._ ”

“Yeah, well, normal went out the window about a month ago.” She shrugged. “Sue me.”

His laugh faded, but the smile stayed in the tone of his voice. “Quite. I simply wanted to meet you on even ground. Do you have any idea just how bright your aura is?”

“Eh?” Brienne blinked, confused.

He hummed. “You’re like a second full moon in the night sky. I couldn’t _not_ see you.” He nodded, once. “There is much potential in you. I admit to being greatly curious as to where you will go, and what you will do with it. I wish you much luck, Brienne of Frederick.”

He grinned again, and the world reappeared.

~*~

Lucario released her hand. The presence in her head faded immediately as she tried to make sense of what had just happened in what felt like the blink of an eye and the first Lucario joined his partner behind Korrina.

“You know, I raised that Lucario on the understanding that he’d be going to another trainer one day. He’s met a couple other trainers that he’s liked, but he’s never left with them.” Korrina put a hand on her hip. “Stop by Shalor City, if you’re collecting badges. I hope you can roll with the punches!” She grinned and motioned to her two Lucario. “Later!” She rolled by Brienne on her skates and slipped into the Lumiose City terminal, the two Lucario following.

Brienne blinked after them. “What in heaven…?”

~*~

Brienne spent the first couple hours on Route Five pondering exactly what the Lucario told her. _‘There is much potential in you.’_ Really. He had to throw in the extra mystery, didn’t he? She just wanted to go home. She was travelling because it gave her something to do, and because there was the chance she could find something to help.

It seemed Shalor City was going to be a big goal. That Lucario had known exactly where she was from. She wanted another chance to talk to him.

Route Five itself was a winding path through verdant, green hills. Maples, oaks, a few pines, and a few more breeds that she couldn’t identify at all, grew thick and leafy into a bramble of trees that reminded her heavily of the Appalachians and Blue Ridge Mountains, like the highway that took you into West Virginia from Maryland. This path, for the most part, was much more abandoned, compared to the route from Santalune to Lumiose. Small paved skater parks dotted the road, sprouts of grass peeking through the gaps in the cement blocks.

She was occasionally stopped by a random trainer as she hiked by for a battle. The twins were enjoying the chance to get out of the pokéball and battle. They had finally gotten a handle on their first true psychic attacks.

They were creative. The poor trainers didn’t know what hit them.

Around three in the afternoon, Brienne crested the top of the tallest hill in the area. She’d been following a grind-pipe all the way up the hill. She had a feeling that some skaters were suicidal enough to want to go full speed down the thing. More power to’em.  

She groaned, letting the heavy pack on her shoulders fall to the ground with a careless thump. She was tired, she was hungry, and her feet were about to go on a small rebellion. The top of the highest hill in the area seemed like a perfect place to eat lunch. Flopping inelegantly to the ground on her butt, she took in the view the hill afforded her. She whistled loudly.

“Okay, walking up this hill was completely worth it. Wow.” The hills themselves dropped neatly away into a low valley, a winding river of crystal blue flowing past what looked to be Camphrier Town, a small mansion, and what seemed to be a giant palace in the distance. The gleam of gold was sharp in the afternoon light.

Brienne fell onto her back, facing the sky as her hands pulled off all four pokéballs. “Lunch time!”

There was a brief flash of light as all four of her Pokémon came out, and then a cheer from her Bulbasaur as he promptly began rolling around in the grass. She giggled.

“Miss grass, Saturn?” She turned her head to spot her grass-type sprawled out just as she was, face buried in a particularly fluffy tuft of greenery.

“Bulba!” He was also snacking on it a little. Whelp. Must be tasty grass.

Dresden nudged at her head with his snout, and she got the distinct sense of ‘eh?’

“No battling right now. Just food and sunlight and relaxing.” She blinked. “Right. Food. It’s in the pack.” She rolled over on her stomach, only to catch Dirk and Kanaya already pulling it out.

“Awww, guys, that’s kind of my job…” Brienne grumbled, sitting up and helping the twins with the packaging.

 ** _“You were lazing, and we are hungry.”_** They both shrugged.

 _“Didn’t want to wait. We’ve been battling all day.”_ Dirk shoved part of a sandwich in his mouth.

She winced. “Oops. Sorry, you two.”

_ “It’s cool. It’s only, what, day five of your journey?” _

**_“Learning curve.”_ **

Their trainer smiled, and kissed the tops of their heads. “Thanks.” She laid out a bowl of food for Dresden. Saturn seemed content to snack on grass and sunbathe.

As she yanked out a rib sandwich for herself—another purchase from John Smith and his Blaziken—a thick manila folder slid out of the pack and the papers inside fanned out like a waterfall. She sighed, staring down at the very thick file Professor Sycamore had given her. She was alone except for her Pokémon, and she’d spot anyone coming up the hill. Now was as good as any time to open it.

Brienne shuffled the papers back into the folder, focusing on the top sheet. A bright yellow sticky-note was attached at the top.

_‘Incidents ordered by date, first to last. Slight profiles on trainers with repeat mentions after. I hope this helps you find what you are looking for.’_

_\--Professor Sycamore_

Incidents. That didn’t sound ominous at all. Nope.

She picked up the first report.

**Location: Orange Islands—Shamouti Islands and its three connecting isles.**

**Date of Incident: October 23, 2009**

****Legendary Pokémon spotted: Lugia,** **

**Known as “Guardian of the Seas” in legend. Hard to find, very rare. Most sightings are found in Orange Islands and the ocean south of the Johto region. Storms tend to follow after sightings.**

 

****Articuno, **Another legendary Pokémon; can cause blizzards. Usually sighted by lost hikers in mountains.**** **

****Zapdos, **Extremely rare legendary. Only sighted in thunderclouds, some legends report they are born from thunderstorms.**** **

 

****Moltres. **Legendary Pokémon. Appearance marks the arrival of spring. The Indigo League’s tournament flame is said to be created from the fire of the Moltres that first blessed it.******

****Local Pokémon gathered on edges of shoreline and borders of rage-induced attacks. Cause or reason for this is unknown.** **

Brienne blinked at the attached photos. This place had honest to god elemental phoenixes. No wonder there wasn’t much in the way of war on this planet. The local sentient and semi-sentient forces of nature would rise up and smite the crap out of them, regardless of side.

**Incident report: Weather reports beyond the norm. Earthquakes reported at 5 on the Richter scale. Minor flooding on southern Kanto coast.  
Three legendary birds captured by Lawrence III, later released by Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, Tracey Sketchit, continued to attack each other and the surrounding isles in rage.**

**Lugia appeared and attempted to calm them. Did not succeed immediately, see Legend of Shamouti Island.**

**“** **_Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea.”_ **

**Local yearly festival has a “chosen one” (usually a tourist) take three treasures, each representing Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, to their specific isle to tame the “Beast of the Sea.” It is unknown if this legend has bearing on the incident.**

A note in purple ink in Sycamore’s handwriting was scribbled into the margin here. _‘Professor Samuel Oak was very terse on this subject. I could only get confirmation on what information I could glean from news reports. He himself refused to volunteer information. It was both suspicious and frustrating. He did however comment that the “Beast of the Sea” was most likely just the local deep sea current that runs through the Orange Islands.’_

**Legendary birds eventually calmed down.**

**Results: Large tropical storms formed and dissipated within a day. Low-level earthquakes. Large gatherings of local Pokémon at shorelines, outside of normal habitats.**

There was more purple handwriting.

_‘I cannot understand much of the how and why, here. It does not help that the local professor is keeping mum on the subject. It is understandable that three very powerful Pokémon would go into a rage after being violently captured, and not within the bounds of a traditional Pokémon battle. I am missing a puzzle piece. The Legendary birds are powerful, but not at the level where they could cause the damage reported, even combined.’_

Why did this report read like a half-formed fantasy movie plot? Brienne slipped the stapled report to the back of the file, eyes falling on the next one.

**Location: Johto—Greenfield**

**Date of Incident: June 9, 2010**

**Legendary Pokémon sighted: Unown, Entei**

**Unown: These Pokémon tend to be shy, and will vanish as soon as they are spotted. They are somehow empathic, but communicate through electromagnetic waves, not telepathy. (No image available.)**

There was a scribble in the margin of the report with an arrow pointing to it. _‘Professor Oak couldn’t hide this from me. He’s working on a paper on the nature of Unown, and has been collaborating with other professors for information. Ha!’_

**Entei: Extremely rare, one of the three Legendary Beasts of Johto, supposedly created by Ho-Oh. A powerful fire-type, it is connected to the creation of volcanoes.**

**Incident: A sudden, unexplained, temporary crystallization of Greenfield. The kidnapping of Delia Ketchum, who was rescued by her son, Ash Ketchum.**

_‘There is little public information about what exactly happened in Greenfield. The epicenter of the Crystallization was Hale Mansion, where Pokémon Researcher Spencer Hale lives with his family. At the time of the incident, Professor Hale’s wife had been missing for years, and Professor Hale himself had just gone missing that day, leaving behind a five-year-old daughter. At the end of it, both Professor Hale and his wife were found walking out of the local ruins.  
The only people who know the full story of what happened were the people inside the mansion at the time: Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, Brock Takeshi, Delia Ketchum, and Molly Hale. The local TV reporters on the scene were unable to get in, and were eventually pushed back to the local Pokémon Center as the crystal continued to cover the town.’_

There was a frustrated line of purple ink after this, as if Professor Sycamore had ground his pen into the paper.

_‘I do not understand why Professor Oak is keeping mum about all of this.’_

Brienne shoved the last bite of sandwich in her mouth as she closed the file folder. There was already a good bit of mystery in her hands, and she had only looked at two reports. What made her nervous was the sheer amount of destruction the reports contained. There were legendary birds that controlled the weather, subject to their tempers and a flimsy prophecy, and unknown Pokémon that could crystallize anything with a thought, apparently.

The rabbit hole just kept getting deeper and deeper.

She slid the folder back into her camper pack, standing up fully. Her twin Ralts had fallen asleep, their heads pillowed on Saturn’s side as the grass type slept as well.

Dresden had…apparently disappeared.

An icy lump formed in the pit of her stomach. She zapped her remaining Pokémon back into their ‘balls, ignoring the cranky mental yelps of annoyance from the twins, eyes wide as she took in the surrounding area.

“Dresden! Dresden, where are you?” She yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. That Pokémon had huge ears, there was no way he couldn’t hear her. All she’d done was sit down with a sandwich and something to read while she rested her feet. Did she really have to keep her eyes on her Pokémon twenty-four seven to keep them safe?

She bit her lip as she tried not to panic any more than she already was.

“Dresden!” Brienne yelled again, this time cupping around her ears, hoping for anything. A yelp came off from the tree line. It was better than nothing. She left her pack where it was and dashed off after the sound, fists clenched.

Scrapes and cuts from tree branches and bushes slashed her arms as she pushed through, following the barking that came every few seconds.  

“Dresden! I’m coming!” Brienne called, barely avoiding slamming into a thick tree as she ran.

She skidded to a stop on the slope of a hill, catching sight of Dresden surrounded by a group of green blobs with feathers on top. Dresden, ears back and tail down, was growling, heat coming off him in waves. He barked again and spat a fireball at one of the blobs. It went down, but there was another behind it, ready to take its place. The way the hill presented itself, Dresden was cornered by the sheer rise of the hill behind him and the round blobs in front.

Brienne was quite literally standing over his head.

“Hey, Dresden, baby, I’m here.” She flopped onto her stomach in an attempt to reach her fire starter. The ground crumbled under her when she leaned too far forward. If she fell she’d go rolling down the very steep hill.

Dresden spotted her and jumped for her hand, but couldn’t quite make it all the way. There was maybe two and a half feet between her and her Pokémon. Dresden turned back to the Pokémon blocking him in and growled.

Brienne whipped her Pokédex out of her pocket, other hand hovering over her pokéballs. What the hell were these things?

_“Gulpin, the stomach Pokémon. It has a small heart and brain. Its stomach comprises most of its body, with enzymes to dissolve anything.”_

“Poison type. Well, fuck. Dresden, let me get you out of there, please baby!” She inched her way forwards on the ledge, wincing as more weight led to more dirt crumbling down.

Dresden snarled at the incoming horde, fire starting to flicker from his ears. It was official. He was angry.

“Dresden, c’mon!” She reached harder.

He spat another large globe of fire at a Gulpin that got to close. The Gulpin behind it just oozed its way over the new obstacle.

“Please, Dresden!” Dresden howled at the desperate tone in Brienne’s voice, exploding into white light. She gasped, Dresden’s form changing, growing taller and onto two legs. The light faded and all the Gulpin stopped, surprised at the change.

Brienne hadn’t put the Pokédex away. _“Braixen, the Fire Fox. It has a twig stuck in its tail. With friction from its tail fur, it sets the twig on fire and launches into battle.”_

Dresden peered down at his feet. Bending over, he brushed off a sizable branch and weighed it in his paw. He nodded, once, to himself and struck it against his tail like lighting a match. He grinned, showing off a couple new canines.

The Pokédex beeped in Brienne’s hand one more time. “Psybeam?”

Dresden barked in reply and went to town, a beam of pink-purple light exploding from the tip of the branch to knock out Gulpin after Gulpin. He batted them away like croquet balls after they started to pile up.

What was left of the horde turned tail and oozed away as fast as they could.

Brienne reached down one last time. “Dresden, come on.” He happily grabbed her hand, and she pulled him up onto the rise.

“Why the hell did you vanish?!” She glomped him, wrapping her arms around his three feet tall frame.

She got the mental feeling of wanting to look at something at a nearby tree, and thinking he/she wouldn’t get lost, and then accidentally getting lost. Running into the Gulpin horde was just the cherry on top.

She facepalmed. There was nothing for it but that.

“I will talk this over with you in Camphrier Town.” She leveled a low glare at him until his ears drooped. She sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay, and you did a good job with that horde. And your new form looks awesome.” The glare lessened with a smile. “Let’s go. I left my pack and guitar in the clearing, and I want to get to Camphrier town before dark.”

She pulled out Dresden’s pokéball and he willingly zapped himself into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter seven guys.  
> I know last chapter I said work was relatively light. It is...so to speak. However, it eats spoons like nothing else, and not only that, but a new health concern has reared its ugly head to eat the rest of my spoons. What I have left are somewhat hoarded, I admit. It makes writing hard. What free time I have is spent on stress-relieving activities, and writing at the moment is not one of them.  
> New chapters will be slow to come. I have a little bit more pre-written, but not much. And it needs some massive editing. I'm sorry to leave you here, I truly am, but I have to for my peace of mind. I'll get back to it when I can. It will take time.  
> I'm so sorry.  
> \--Isis the Sphinx


	8. The scent of incense; asleep and awake.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The arrival to Camphrier Town.  
> A little bit of a focus on Shauna. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!
> 
> Happy Winter Celebration! Itty bitty chapter update because Christmas. More will come eventually, probably around the end of January. Depends if I keep my job or not. (I was only hired as a Seasonal Associate. AKA The grunt who covers our asses while the ravenous, raging hordes of customers invade the store between Halloween and New Years.)  
> My chances are not exactly high. This does mean more time for writing.  
> Enjoy!

The sun had nearly set when she made it down to the gates of Camphrier Town. The glowing lights of the local Pokémon Center were her beacon of safe harbor, and she smiled at the thought of a warm meal and bed. The Center itself was remarkably smaller than the ones Brienne had seen in Santalune and Lumiose City.

The air-conditioning washed over her as she stepped through the front doors, and she shivered.

She stepped up to the front desk, dropped her pokéballs in front of her, and rested her forehead on the cool glass counter with a thunk. “Done. So done. Completely done with today.”

“Ma’am?”

Brienne rolled her head to peer at the desk attendant with a gimlet eye. “Nnnh?”

“Are you all right?” Light brown hair just long enough to hide blue eyes behind rounded glasses peered down at her. “Do you need anything?”

“Food. A bed. A little more energy to glare in a disappointed manner to my Braixen. You wouldn’t happen to be able to help with that, would you?” She stood up properly, rolling her head around on her shoulder to relax her neck.

The attendant gave her a sheepish smile and ran a hand through his hair. “I can point you toward the cafeteria, and I can heal your Pokémon.” He gave her a sympathetic grimace. “I can’t give you a bed. This Pokémon Center doesn’t have the funds for dorms.”

“What.” Her flat tone of voice was only because she had no more energy to deal with surprises.

He shrugged. “Camphrier Town’s just a pit-stop for the Battle Château down Route Seven and the Parfum Palace. There’s not much of a population here.”

She put a hand to her face in frustration. “So, what, am I camping on a couch, or outside?”

“The town makes its money through the hotel. The front desk is open until nine p.m. if you want to reserve a room. It’s not far from here, just a block down.” He gave her a small smile as she stared. “I can give them a call and let them know to expect you?”

The feeling of relief in Brienne was a release of pressure from the clamps around her ribs the stress of that day had given her. “You’d do that?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s no problem. They’ll give discounts to trainers.”

“Oh _man,_ thank you so much. I owe you.” She held out a hand. “Brienne Lalonde.”

The answering shake was warm, if brief. “Daniel Jackson.”

There was another jolt of shock down her spine, like the universe was messing with her yet again, but she didn’t let it show on her face.

“Let me get your Pokémon their check up, and then you can get to dressing down your Braixen.” Half her pokéballs were already in the healing machine before she knew it.

“Mmnnh. Yeah. _So_ looking forward to that.” She slumped again.

~*~

Full stomach? Check. Healed Pokémon? Check. Scolded Dresden? Check.

…The poor thing had wilted so fast she hadn’t had the heart to give the full speech she had in her head. He really was a sweetheart, and the curiosity wasn’t something she wanted stamped out of him. There just needed to be supervision.

Brienne wandered her way down the main street of Camphrier Town, enjoying the small-town similarity it had to Vaniville Town. It was a _very_ nice break after the hustle and bustle of Lumiose. Street lamps stood at every corner, glowing a gentle yellow-white that banished shadows to the deepest corners. Jackson had not been lying when he said that the hotel was nearby. Its doors were lit bright from the inside, a single lamppost giving off the impression of shaped topiary. Little glimpses of light reflected off a wrought iron gate.

The gate squeaked gently when she opened it, passed through, and closed it behind her. Just a little bit more and she could flop on a bed. The pack had started to really dig into her shoulders on the last half of the trek here. She had a feeling she’d be camping out, soon.

Opening the door to the hotel was a complete relief, and the air conditioning felt like a cool, gentle caress.

“Lady Bri! You made it!” She blinked, stared up, and got a face-full of boob.

“Ack! Shauna!” She blushed again, pulling away slightly from the enthusiastic hug. “Hi.”

Shauna bounced in place, excited. “I was worried you’d be stuck camping out on Route Five, or not make it to the hotel in time for a room! C’mon, let’s get you a room before the front desk closes for the night, and you can drop your stuff and we can talk!” She grabbed Brienne’s hand and yanked.

Brienne let herself be drawn along in Hurricane Shauna’s wake. There really was no stopping her.

The poor lady at the front desk looked a little traumatized by Shauna’s reappearance in front of her. Shauna seemed oblivious to it. “May I help you?” The hostess tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, um, could I have a room for one? Daniel Jackson at the Pokémon center should have called ahead and let you know I was on my way?” So she’d been getting practice at talking to strangers through this journey. Didn’t mean she liked doing it.

“Oh, yes, I remember. Very nice man. I’m sorry to say, we just ran out of single rooms.” She paused, and glimpsed at Shauna. “We do have a room with two beds if you can find someone to share it with.”

Brienne wanted a bed. She had no problems at all with sharing, even if it was with her crush, who happened to be a morning person. “Shaaaauuuuunnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..”

Shauna shrugged. “I don’t mind moving. Actually that’d be really cool! We can have a sleepover!” She giggled.

The lady at the desk blanched, no doubt imagining the mess Shauna might leave behind tonight in the room. “Quite. If you will sign here and leave a small security deposit, I will hand you the key.”

“Yeah, okay.” She mustered up the energy to scribble her name on paper.

“Woohoo!” Shauna cheered and dashed off, presumably to grab her pack.

~*~

She tromped into the room and let her pack slide off her back, not caring at the moment where and how it landed. The guitar case went to lean against the wall. She sighed, put her hands on her hips, rolled her shoulders, and leaned backwards, groaning as her spine cracked like a bunch of pieces of chalk snapping.

Now. The option of which bed to sleep on. Brienne had absolutely no preference, simply wanting a soft horizontal surface to be unconscious on for a few hours, but had no idea if Shauna wanted the bed by the window.

Speaking of Shauna, Brienne turned her head towards the door and her eyes went wide.

“Shauna-identified flying object at three o’clock!” Shauna ran in, leapt over Brienne’s pack, dropped her own, and body-tackled Brienne to the bed by the window, cuddling her as they landed.

“Hi Shauna…” Brienne was too busy blushing at the full body contact to really muster much thought.

“So you have _got_ to tell me how your Pokémon are doing!” She pulled up on her hands to look the flustered girl in the face. “That battle in Lumiose was all I got to see of them, and I was really impressed! And I really miss cuddling with Dirk and Kanaya. I want to introduce them to Chester!”

 “Okay…” Her brain was still trying to play catch-up. Why did Shauna have to be so _warm?_ Or, you know, have her leg be between Brienne’s own, and her knee about an inch away from a very, _very_ sensitive spot oh dear Christ…

Shauna stared for just a moment longer before getting up and rolling over, flopping beside Brienne and staring at the ceiling. “Maybe it should wait until tomorrow. I am kinda tired and it’s been a really long day. We can do all that tomorrow and more. Maybe go see Shabboneau Castle.” She grinned.

“Sure. Ah…Which bed do you want?” There we go. Brain is back up and running. A somewhat intelligent question!

Brienne could feel Shauna shrug. “Eh. Don’t care. Ooooh! We can push them together and have one big bed! Yeah!”

She was not going to get out of this night without a nosebleed, she just knew it. “All right…That’s fine with me.”

“Okay!” Shauna leapt off the bed to go wrangle the other one.

She was doomed. So very doomed.

~*~

The morning came, and for once Brienne did not mind greeting it. She was warm, she was relaxed, and she felt like she could face another whole day of walking with a huge weight on her back.

Her consciousness came a bit more forwards. Her legs were tangled up with someone else’s, and her head was pillowed on something soft that was _not_ a pillow. She felt fingers gently combing through her hair.

“Moooorn~ing, sleepyhead.” Shauna hummed.

She felt the blood rush to her face fast enough to light it on fire. “Morning.” Her voice was a squeak.

“Comfortable?” Was Shauna’s voice smug?

“Yeah.” She nuzzled in a bit closer, and then froze. Where the hell was her brain?!

Shauna giggled. “C’mon, silly. Time to get up. Stuff to do. Coffee to drink.”

Right. Coffee. The world would make sense after coffee. She pulled herself out of bed, sure her face was on fire, and stumbled towards the bathroom. Actually, she slammed into the wall next to the bathroom first, readjusted, and vanished into the tiny room.

Shauna giggled at the early morning antics.

~*~

They had breakfast at the Pokémon Center, as the hotel itself did not carry much in the way of a menu. Shauna stared at Brienne all through the meal, a quiet, smug smile dancing around the corners of her mouth and eyes.

Brienne was pretty damn sure her ears were two little signal-beams on her head, directing all local planes.

“So, Brienne, how are your Pokémon doing? They really kicked some ass at Professor Sycamore’s but you seemed kind of withdrawn? Were you just tired?” Shauna nibbled on a croissant.

“Heh, yeah I was just a bit tired. Huge cities and I aren’t always the best of friends. The mood kind of carried over to Dirk and Kanaya.” She shrugged. “Dresden actually evolved yesterday. He stumbled into a horde of Gulpin and somehow pissed them off. Next thing I know he’s blasting them with Psywave and knocking the unconscious ones out of the area with the staff he picked up. Yes, I said staff.”

“Seriously? Like baseball?” Shauna’s eyes sparkled.

“More like croquet. A nice long, low swing. Maybe golf? Do Braixen generally pick wands as tall as they are?”

Shauna dropped her head in her hand, elbow on the table. “Not…really? The wand is usually really short, from what I’ve seen? Where does Dresden store it when he’s not battling?”

“He just holds onto it. Sometimes he’ll lean on it.” Her face was the picture-perfect example of ‘I’ve got no idea what’s up.’

“Have you thought about asking him?” The question was a small surprise.

“Aah…no, actually. My brain was too concentrated on the fact that I had to scold him? He found that Gulpin horde by wandering off a bit too far.” She chuckled ruefully. “He’s really enthusiastic. It’s adorable but I feel like I’ve got my hands full.”

“Awww…Well, now’s better than later! And we’ve got all of today to ourselves, so why not?” She bounced in her seat. “They can play a little bit, too.” She pulled out her own pokéball. “Chester, come say hi!”

The little grass hedgehog appeared, stretching his hands above his head. The yawn revealed a bunch of tiny, needle-sharp teeth.

“All right. Ought to feed them breakfast, as well, anyway. C’mon guys, say hi to Shauna and Chester!”

The four appeared in various states of awake. Dirk and Kanaya were already attentive, Dresden stood leaning on his staff, rubbing at his eyes with one paw, and Saturn was still snoring.

“Pffft.” Shauna smothered a snort. “Seems a few of your Pokémon take after you, Brienne, as late sleepers. Like Trainer, like Pokémon!”

Brienne sniffed. “Nothing wrong with sleeping in a little later. I don’t understand how you can handle being awake so early in the day.”

“I can’t miss a thing, Brienne! Loads of memories to make!” She smiled wider. “Chester, say hi.”

Chester, still a Chespin, stared up at its first opponent and huffed. Dresden’s ears fell at the reaction and he sat abruptly on his butt, staff placed on the floor, and reached out to pull Chester towards him in a hug. The abrupt, incongruous feeling of hurt and disappointment swamped them all.

Chester struggled for a few seconds before it sighed in defeat, and let Dresden park his chin on the top of Chester’s head.

 ** _“Well, Dresden’s an empath. This was unexpected.”_** Kanaya blinked, her arms crossed.

 _“So we’re the super-awesome telepaths and Dresden can tell everyone exactly what he’s feeling. Cool.”_ Dirk nodded and reached as high as he could to pat Dresden on the shoulder.

Brienne stared at her Pokémon. “Dresden’s an empath and the other two are totally cool with it. Psychic Pokémon are so cool.” The urge to drop out of her seat and hug them all grew.

Shauna sat and watched intently.

Saturn stirred, blinked light-sensitive eyes, and budged Brienne in the ankle with his head. “Saaaur!”

The twins’ shoulders bounced in giggles. _“He says if you don’t feed him now he’s gonna start chewing on your jeans.”_

“Yeah, okay. Food. Going. Hold your horses.”

Saturn’s eyes watched Brienne all the way across the cafeteria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give a shout-out to Haruka Malayo, for bookmarking this story and tagging it with "Self Insert With Style." That made my day more than you can imagine.   
> (Yeah I notice stuff like that. It's an indirect ego boost. XD ^_^)
> 
> Small chapter is small because this is quite literally the edge of the pre-written backlog of stuff I have. What's left needs a few more scenes added in to fill it out.  
> (I hate the Parfum Palace maze puzzle. I hate it with a horrible, burning passion that puts Lysandre to shame, you have no idea. And now I get to write it. Whoop-de-doo!)  
> Um. Yeah.  
> Leave a comment!


	9. Hit the Sky and Burn Like Icarus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Day on the Road with Shauna.  
> Also: The dreaded Furfrou chase scene.   
> I mean, I get having a few mini-games in Pokemon, but this was just a pain in the ass...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read:
> 
> GO GIVE HARUKA MALAYO A HUGE HUG. Seriously. A link to her profile's at the bottom of the page in the Kudos. This chapter Would. Not. Exist. Without her help. I cannot stress this enough. This girl got me into Shauna's shoes, and without that I'd still be staring angrily at a blinking word document cursor.   
> Haruka, I know I've said this so many times, but it bears repeating. Thank you.

Shabboneau Castle reminded Brienne of the few manor houses that stood in Frederick County. Large, imposing, elegant, and built completely in imitation of real castles that stood in Europe. There was even a wooden drawbridge over a tiny moat that connected to the nearby river.

Brienne and Shauna stepped into the cool castle, sneakers and boots echoing quietly against the stone walls and floor. The foyer seemed oddly empty for a manor castle, especially in the native environment. This was where the manor lord would entertain his guests, being either the largest or second largest room in the building. There were no paintings, no wall hanging, no statues; it was as if the place had been stripped bare.

Shauna shivered. Brienne frowned and shuffled over until her arm touched Shauna’s and tried not to blush. The chill didn’t bother her as much. Stone was used in most manor homes and castles as an insulator, temperatures inside generally did not change until extremes were reached outside.

A third pair of footsteps echoed from around the corner, revealing a short, broad-shouldered man in a fighting-gi and loose jeans. “Oh, visitors! We don’t often get visitors here. Welcome!”

“Hi there!” Shauna’s voice was bouncy, even if she wasn’t. “We just got here yesterday from Lumiose City!”

“Oh, my. Welcome, once again. I’m afraid this manor house can’t stand up to the elegance of Lumiose City, but you’re free to look around. May I be your tour guide?”

The girls both nodded.

“Thank you very much!” The grin took up most of the man’s face. “There isn’t much to do in the upkeep of Shabboneau Castle, nowadays.” He gestured for them to move forward, into the house. “This manor house used to belong to a minor lord. Over time, the royal family raised taxes and eventually the lords of the manor had to begin giving away heirlooms to keep up with the tax.” He sighed. “All the family has left now is the building itself.”

“That sounds like royalty, all right.” Brienne scrunched up her nose.

Shauna blinked and tilted her head at the tour guide. “You wouldn’t be related to the manor lord in the story, would you?”

He nodded sadly. “Yes, even though there is little to inherit but a name and a drafty castle.” He shrugged.  “I am David Leroux.”

The front doors banged open, and Daniel Jackson jumped through. “David, it’s back again!”

All three spun to look at him, David in exasperation. “Again?! It’s that time of year, huh?” He gestured to the manor itself. “Feel free to look around, it’s not like there is anything you could steal. I have to run down to Route Seven. Good day, ladies!” He jogged by them and out of the manor, Jackson chasing after him.

Shauna pursed her lips, took a brief look around with mostly just her eyeballs, and peered at Brienne. “I say we follow them. This castle was a bit of a let-down.”

“Mmmkay.” They dashed out of the manor, Shauna’s laugh echoing behind them in the hall.

~*~

Brienne wished her hiking boots didn’t weigh so much. It’d be easier to keep up with Shauna’s very long legs and her even longer strides as she dashed off down Route Seven.

The run wasn’t as long as Brienne feared, about a quarter of a mile, just by the river, before Shauna slid to a sudden stop. Brienne jogged around her and nearly plowed into the lord of the manor house.

“Hey, why’d we stop? Please remember I am shorter than all of you and cannot see!” She leaned onto her tip-toes.

“This thing is like a mountain! I can’t even squeeze by it!” Jackson said, somewhere ahead of her, and Shauna motioned Brienne in front of her.

“What the heck is that?” It was huge and it was fat.

“Snorlax does this every year. Gorges himself on the wild berries in the area, floats himself down the river, and falls asleep on the bridge.” David groaned, face in his hands.

“Didn’t you give the Pokéflute to the palace?” Daniel jerked his head back towards the east and north, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, yeah I did. It’s all I had left.” David was defeated now. “Tourist flow is practically going to trickle to a halt, now.”

Brienne turned and whispered to Shauna. “What’s a Pokéflute?”

She propped her head on top of Brienne’s as she responded. “Special flute that is good at waking Pokémon from sleep, especially Snorlax and Munchlax.” She raised her voice. “Hey, we can go to the palace and ask to borrow it for you, if you want.”

“We can?” Brienne couldn’t look at Shauna, but her tone of voice did all of it for her.

The hope in David’s face made the sudden volunteering worth it. “Would you? Any time I go in there that spoiled brat just whines about how I must be there to take things back and how he needs to be rich. Uhg. Daniel, would you take them there? I know you can get in easily enough.”

“No problem. It’s on Route Six.” He started back towards Camphrier Town.

Shauna followed, dragging Brienne along by the wrist. Brienne squeaked and trotted to catch up.

~*~

Route Six itself was a cobblestone path shaded over with sycamore trees, tall grass fields on either side.

“Daniel, last I saw you, you were behind the Pokémon Center counter. What are you doing here?” Brienne caught up to his side.

“Oh, I’m actually an archaeology student on work-study. I have to do a semester on the Kalos royal line, and I took the chance to come here. Working at the Pokémon Center is for an extra paycheck on the side. I work nights, and can get a lot of studying done, and Nurse Joy is on duty during the day.”

“Tidy.” Shauna had caught up.

“Mmmhm. Here we are. Let’s see if I can get you in without having to pay the tour entrance fees.”

Both Shauna and Brienne froze like they’d run into a brick wall. “Tour entrance fees?”

“Aha…yeah.” Daniel looked sheepish.  

Brienne stared. “You gotta be kidding me. All we’re doing is asking for a flute.”

Daniel shrugged.

~*~

They had to pay the tour entrance fees. Even Daniel.

Brienne wasn’t sure which she wanted to stare at more, the extensive, over-glorified art in the palace or the quickly growing storm cloud that was Daniel’s attitude as he muttered about the entrance fee.

“The university assured me that I was exempt from the fees, that I wouldn’t have to worry about it…” He growled under his breath, expression growing darker and darker.

Shauna tugged at Brienne’s wrist, pulling her further into the palace. “C’mon! We’ve got to find the guy in charge!” She ran around a corner, her strength unintentionally whipping the shorter girl in an arc.

“Shauna!” She squeaked as she flailed and teetered on one foot, balance upset. She felt herself tilt past the point of no return.

Shauna was well out of catching distance.

Brienne stared at the ceiling and wondered why she hadn’t hit marble, and why whatever she _had_ landed on was soft and squishy.

“Get _off me_ , peasant! How dare you fall on top of me! I think I have bruised myself on the marble floor. Ugh!”

She rolled off her impromptu landing-pad and stood, eyebrow quirked. “Sorry about that. My balance is horrible.”

The sharply dressed man stood and brushed himself off, the look on his face one of extreme disgust, as if a pile of trash had been dropped at his feet. “Of course. Have you seen my Furfrou?” He eyed Brienne and the other two as they caught up, and his nose went a little higher into the air. “No, of course not. Excuse me.”

He began to waddle off, his stride a complete opposite from his attitude.

Daniel growled. “ _That_ is the lord of Parfum Palace.”

Shauna patted his shoulder. “No attempted murder, Daniel, there’s no-where to hide the body.”

She smiled at the twin surprised stares. “What?” The smile on her face was just a little mischievous. She trotted off after the palace lord. “Well? C’mon, we’ve got to get the Pokéflute!”

Daniel gaped at her retreating form. “Why do I have the feeling that all the cute she shows off is just hiding an evil, I-will-take-over-the-world evolution?”

Brienne closed her jaw. “Because you are completely right and I think she knows it.”

Daniel turned towards her. “You’re doomed.”

She nodded and shrugged. “I know. But it’ll be fun on the way. Let’s go.”

~*~

Shauna was the first to catch up to the lord of Parfum Palace, her long legs quickly closing the distance between her and the snubbed noble. Between the drum-beats of her pounding head, she heard Brienne and Daniel grumbling just around the corner. They’d catch up soon enough.

She’d have to stop off at the nearest bathroom to slip another pill. Ah well.

“Sir? Sir, please wait!” She checked her speed with a little skip that had her stop right next to the portly man.

He gave a huff, his disdain obvious. “What is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Right. Nicest, humblest smile you can muster, Shauna, giving him a verbal beat-down will get you nowhere. “I’m sorry sir, but I heard you have a Poké-flute? There’s a Snorlax blocking Route Seven’s bridge. Can we borrow it? We promise to bring it right back.”

She clasped her hands in front of her and teetered on the backs of her heels. She’d been told she could pull off the _best_ growlithe-eyes, it was time to put it to the test.

“And what does a Snorlax on Route Seven have to do with me? No. Now go away.” He scoffed and began to waddle away.

She heard Brienne begin to growl as she caught up. She hadn’t seen an angry Brienne before, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to see one today.

“Hey, I got this.” Shauna patted Brienne on the top of the head and chased after the spoiled lord again, innocent smile still plastered on her face.

“Sir, what if we found your Furfrou for you? Could we borrow the Poké-flute then?” She called to the lord’s back.

The tubby lord stopped in his tracks. “All right. If you find my Furfrou, you may borrow the Poké-flute.” He sighed. “But you must bring it _right_ back, do you understand?”

“Yes sir!” Bingo!

“Good. You may start in the back garden’s maze.”

~*~

The three of them stared at the huge hedge maze that grew in what consisted of Parfum Palace’s back yard. It was the Queen of Hearts’ dream hedge maze. This thing was a hedge maze to birth all other hedge mazes. The hedge maze in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire _wished_ it was this maze.

“The Furfrou is in there somewhere.” Daniel stated, face blank.

“And we have to find it,” Brienne whined, shoulders slumped.

“Aw, it’ll be easy enough. Furfrou are friendly!” Shauna countered, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Brienne could hear the Benny Hill theme music playing already. “Let’s get this over with.”

~*~

The two girls walked side-by-side as they explored the maze, eyes open for any sign of the wayward Furfrou, or anything else besides the expansive miles of greenery around them. Daniel had split off a while ago, in hopes of covering more ground.

Shauna skipped forward a few steps and walked backwards to face her friend, hiding her nervousness behind a curious smile.

“Hey, Brienne, if you only had a year and a half to live, what would you do with it?” Her hands went behind her back, clenched tightly in a fist. She made the question sound innocuous enough.

The question made the other girl stop, the abrupt change in mental tracks distracting her from the search. She ran a hand through her short hair, lips pursed.

It made her nose wrinkle cutely, Shauna noted.

“Welp.” She started forward again, this time at a much slower pace. “That’s…kind of hard to answer specifically. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Burn hard and fast, I guess.”

“Burn hard? What do you mean?” Shauna slowed in her backwards walk, waiting for Brienne to catch up with her.  She knew her eyes were focused on the other girl, laser-like. She hoped it wasn’t noticed.

“Um…do everything. Scream into the abyss. Do not go gentle into that good night.” Brienne rubbed at her face, the physical sign she was searching for the words her mind was giving her answers to. “Do the crazy shit no one else wants to do. Fall hard into love and fuck every day. Spend all the money I could get my hands on legally and maybe some illegally. Travel as far as I could, meet as many faces as there are grains of sand.” The girl’s hands grew animated as she answered, drawing invisible shapes in the air, eyes caught on something only she could see.

“Questions like that only deserve the answers the sages have already given. _‘It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.’_ ” She quoted, fingers bouncing in the air. “I’d hit the sky and burn like Icarus. My wings might melt, but I’ll have touched the sun and felt its fire.” She shrugged. “If you’re gonna die anyway, why not go for broke?”

 _Why not go for broke?_ The answer hit Shauna in the pit of her stomach.

It was time to stop dithering.

“Here’s a question for you,” Brienne’s voice broke Shauna out of her hidden shock. “What would you do if you’d been dragged out of your culture and dropped into a—a warped reflection of it?” Her hand gestured in small, repeated circles. “Everyone speaks the same language they did before, but there are significant differences, enough to make you a stranger in an oddly familiar land.”

Easy enough—she was a people person. “Dive into the culture! Think of the differences in food!” Her stomach rumbled slightly. Lunch wasn’t too far away at this point, it seemed, and the thought made her miss her Dad’s kitchen. “Learn everything I could. It’d suck, for a while, but it’d be a chance to look at everything with new eyes.” She nodded, once. “Just because it’s different doesn’t mean you have to keep yourself out of it. And you’d learn so much about yourself too!”

She grinned, and tilted her head at Brienne, truly curious. “What made you ask?”

Brienne shrugged the question off, her face oddly blank. “Nothing much. Just a random thought.”

~*~

The Furfrou was cornered in a dead end path of the hedge maze. Brienne had yelled her success out, and then crouched like a professional soccer player, legs spread in a wide stance and arms held out to either side like the world’s most ridiculous goblin, determined not to let this damn dog run past her _yet again._ She swore it was using tackle just to brush past her, further into the maze. _And_ that it thought it was a game.  

She was _so done._

Daniel was the first to appear. “Oh, great. You got it.” He leaned over and put his hands on his knees, panting. “That thing is a menace.”

She snorted. “Yeap. Seen Shauna?”

“No, but I heard her on the other side of the hedge…She might be here in a minute.” He shrugged.

They glared at the Furfrou.

The Furfrou wagged its tail, tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Both Daniel and Brienne tensed, expecting another headlong rush.

“Hey guys!” Shauna popped up behind them, grin on her face and a couple leaves stuck in her hair.

Brienne screeched and Daniel yelped, limbs flailing at Shauna’s sudden appearance.

“Ooooh you caught it! Awesome!”  She trotted into the dead-end towards the Furfrou. The other two stared, shocked silent.

It bounced on its paws towards her as its tail wagged faster. It did the doggy version of a hello kiss, rearing up on its hind legs and licking Shauna all over her face. Shauna giggled and wrapped her arms around the Furfrou, burying her face in its fur.

Daniel and Brienne blinked once at the scene in front of them, once at each other, and then flopped down onto the grass.

Brienne groaned. She wished she had just thrown Shauna at it in the first place.

“How do you propose we get it back to its owner?” Daniel sighed, one eye on the rough-housing dog-type and girl.

“We let Shauna pick it up and we head for the fastest route out of this overgrown garden feature.” Brienne muttered back.

“Seriously?” One eyebrow went up.

“She’s stronger than she looks. Trust me.” She huffed in amusement. “Hey, Shauna, think you can get the Furfrou out of the maze?” She jerked her head in the direction she vaguely remembered as the exit.

“Oh yeah no problem! Let’s go puppy! Yes you! You’re a puppy! You’re the best puppy!” She stood and walked backwards, motioning to the Pokémon. The Furfrou barked and followed, his tail in the air like a banner.

“Oh thank you god. I was about to have Dresden set this whole place on fire.” Brienne followed the girl-and-dog pair.

“Dresden?” Daniel pulled himself after.

“My Braixen. There would have been fire everywhere. It would have been glorious.” She grinned evilly.

~*~

They met with the lord of the palace at the main hall.

“Oh, you found my Furfrou! This is marvelous!” He wrapped his arms around the Furfrou’s neck and hugged, to the Furfrou’s great displeasure. It whined and squirmed in its trainer’s hold.  

“We’re glad you got your Pokémon back. I think it just wanted to play. It was…” Brienne searched for a polite enough word. “Very energetic in the hedge maze.”

“My Furfrou? No, that couldn’t be! It hates to be outside!” He shook his head. “This calls for fireworks! It is the perfect reward for what you have done.” He nodded to himself, proud.

“Actually, could we borrow the Pokéflute? There is a Snorlax on Route Seven that is out cold.” Daniel broke in.

“Ah. The Pokéflute. Yes, I have it.” He sighed. “I will have it fetched for you while the fireworks are displayed.” The note of arrogant command laced his voice. “Rendezvous on the balcony while I go get things set up.” He strode out of the room.

Daniel frowned after him. “I think I will head back to Route Seven, let David know that the flute will be coming soon. You two enjoy the fireworks.” He grinned and waved, before disappearing out of the hall.

Shauna frowned, a hint of a wince on her face. “Aw, I kind of feel sorry for that Furfrou. Its trainer is a little…forceful. Maybe it would have been better if we hadn’t found it?”

“Probably.” Brienne scratched her cheek. “You want to try to get the point across that the Furfrou doesn’t like its trainer?”

“Not really. I’d rather go see the fireworks, even if it’s daytime.” Shauna really did wince and shrug, this time, a hand coming up to rub the back of her head sheepishly.

“Me too.”

They slouched off for the second floor of the palace and the mirrored hall that led to the balcony, exhausted from the wild-goose chase in the maze.

~*~

The balcony in the rear of Parfum Palace lent them a clear view of the monster hedge maze and the clear, wide river that paralleled Route Seven. The sky was perfectly clear, a cyan blue that was reflected in the lazy river. The wind was a gentle breeze that toyed with loose locks of hair and the tips of Shauna’s pigtails. There were no chairs to sit back and watch the upcoming fireworks, but they happily made due by leaning against the balcony railing, elbows planted against the metal, forearms dangling over the side.

Shauna sighed, her eyes glued to the view. “You know, I’ve never watched a private fireworks show before.”

“Even though it’s in the middle of the day?” Brienne tilted her head sideways to eye her.

“Eh. Just makes it more memorable.” She smiled softly, and her cheeks were a very light pink.

With a rising, searing sound, the first firework blasted into the sky, yellow sparks falling into a willow-tree formation. Both girls gasped appreciatively.

A few moments passed where the only sound was the exploding fireworks and the gentle sway of the breeze through the leaves in the trees. Despite the bright sunlight, the fireworks were easily visible, expanding into a fantastic array of color and shape.

It made Brienne wonder if the lord of Parfum Palace collected fireworks.

“I’m gonna make sure I never forget these fireworks.”  Shauna’s comment snapped Brienne out of a gentle reverie.

“Oh?” She glanced over and up at Shauna’s face and caught her worrying at her lip.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m watching them with you.” Her hand found its way to Brienne’s, nudging it, turning it over so she could twine their fingers together.

“Oh,” Brienne felt the blush hit her cheekbones and ears. “Oh.”

~*~

“Here you go. The Pokéflute.” The lord of the palace sniffed, nose once again up in the air. “Please remember to return it. It was a payment for a loan, and I am not giving it away.”

Shauna placed the flute in her bag, a smile pasted on her face. Her other hand was clasped tightly to Brienne’s.

“Thank you for loaning us the flute. We will return it as soon as possible.” Brienne answered, voice as dull as possible. She tugged Shauna towards the exit.

The second the gate doors closed behind them, they both shuddered in relief. “What do you think the chances are we can get Daniel to return the flute for us?” Shauna asked as they headed back towards Route Seven.

“If we pay him the entrance tour fee? He’ll probably do it.” Brienne grumped, rolling her shoulders to get rid of the oily feeling the arrogantly rich lord had given her.

“I guess we can do that.” She nodded. “Let’s go move this Snorlax. It should know better than to fall asleep on a bridge.”

“It might like the attention.” Brienne mused. “Think about it. It goes to sleep on a sun-warmed bridge, and some guy comes around later to wake him up with a nice song. Who wouldn’t like that?”

“Someone who would rather be woken up by having their hair finger-combed?” Shauna’s grin wouldn’t melt butter.

Brienne blushed anyway. “Yeah. That.”

“C’mon. Only so much daylight left and I want to coo at the babies in the Daycare Center.” Shauna started to jog, and dragged Brienne along behind her.

“Daycare Center?” Brienne had a feeling she’d be running most places with Shauna.

“Yeap! You haven’t lived until you’ve had a pile of baby Pokémon crawl all over you!”

“Dirk and Kanaya were babies!”

Shauna turned around and ran backwards. “Yeah, but there were only two of them! You have to have a whole bunch of them on you!”

Brienne laughed. “Are you trying to kill me with lethal levels of adorableness? Because it’s working!”

Shauna’s grin, while there, was smaller than it should have been.

~*~

The Snorlax came into sight quickly enough, its huge belly rising and falling slowly as it slept. David and Daniel stood off to the side, conversing quietly as they waited.

Shauna bounced up to them, Pokéflute in hand. “Here you go! One Pokéflute delivered!” She smiled brightly as David took the flute out of her hands.

“Thanks, you two. He never would have given it to me, regardless of why.” He looked it over quickly, a flutist assessing their instrument before practice.

“Yeah, we noticed.” Brienne deadpanned. “Hey Daniel, if we pay you the entrance fee, will you return it?” She gave him the best puppy-dog eyes she could. Shauna was quick to join in.

Daniel crumbled. “Fine. Sure. I’ll do it.” He rolled his eyes.

“All right, girls, I’m about to play. When Snorlax wakes up, it’s going to be a bit grumpy. Are either of you trainers?” David peered at them both.

“Yeap! But Bri’s got more Pokémon than I do, right now. She’s _way_ better. You should see her Ralts twins in action.” She whistled.

There was the fire on her ear-tips, again. “Uh…Yeah.”

David nodded. “Okay. Once it wakes up you’ll have to battle it. Otherwise things might get messy.”

Brienne blinked. “Oh.” Her hands drifted towards her belt. It was time to give Dirk and Kanaya some practice, anyway, they were so jealous of Dresden’s evolution. She eyed the Snorlax. She hoped that thing was slow.

“Okay. Go for it.” She tensed, Shauna behind her.

Her Pokédex chirped before it displayed the information on the Pokémon before her. _“_ _It is not satisfied unless it eats over 880 pounds of food every day. When it is done eating, it goes promptly to sleep.”_

“Oooooh boy. It’s the sumo of Pokémon. Great.” She sighed, hand already reaching down for the twins. “Ready when you are.”

The lord of Shabboneau Castle nodded, fingers already placed on the beginning notes of the song. A bright, cheerful tune came from the flute as he played. The notes seemed to dance in the air, bright, energetic twists of air that bounced into their ears.

The Snorlax snorted, twitched, and rumbled, its eyes squeezing tightly shut in a refusal to wake up. Brienne understood the sentiment completely.

David kept playing.

With one more rumble, the Snorlax rocked on its back and stood up, fully awake, and very grumpy about it.

“You look like me in the morning before coffee!” Brienne joked, one pokéball in each hand.

Shauna laughed. “And sounds like you!”

Both pokéballs flashed, the twins out and ready to play.

Brienne stepped well away from the three Pokémon, while everyone else stepped to the side of the road, content to watch.

“Why both of them, Bri?” Shauna called, hands cupped around her mouth.

She shrugged in response. “It just feels right.”

She grinned, and pointed at the small behemoth. “All right guys, we’ve got to get this lug off the road, where it can go back to sleep! Don’t get stepped on!”

Both Kanaya and Dirk were already small blurs with Double Team.

**_“Do you really think we’re gonna stand around long enough for something to STEP on us? Please.”_ **

Brienne chuckled, to the curiosity of her onlookers. “Right. Kanaya, charge your Confusion. Dirk, keep him distracted with Magical Leaf! Get him away from the bridge.”

Dirk practically blinked from one spot to another, using the speed of Double Team to get himself close enough to hit. The colorful sight of his Magical Leaf appeared, and he concentrated only for a moment, his psychics controlling the leaves into the shape of a blade. He charged in on the Snorlax, slashed down—only for the improvised blade to bounce off the huge belly.

 _“What.”_ Dirk jerked to a stop, his one foot form tiny next to Snorlax’s approximately seven feet. He whacked the sword against the large surface a few more times in disbelief.

The Snorlax rumbled angrily.

“Dirk get out of there!” Brienne shouted.

_ “It bounced! How the hell did it bounce?” _

“Worry later! Move!” Her voice rose.

The Snorlax took a step forward, and shoved with its impossible to see hips. Dirk himself bounced off the large Pokémon’s belly, and went rolling for quite a few feet.

_ “Ugh. It’s like getting smacked in the face with a warm, rubbery pillow.” _

**_“Well then don’t stand still, you derp!”_** Kanaya rolled her eyes, exaggerating the movement with her head. **_“I’m almost ready.”_**

“C’mon, Dirk, you can do this. Aim for its feet or hands! Give it one more go. We’ve already got it off the bridge, we just need it off the road!” She pointed towards an empty, grassy field opposite the river Route Seven paralleled. “He can sleep all he wants, there. Magical Leaf, one more time!”

 _“All right. Better hurry up, sis.”_ The Ralts dashed forward again, bright, colorful sword at the ready, as he poked and prodded at the Snorlax’s hands and feet.

It worked. The Snorlax turned to chase the smaller Pokémon, annoyed with the quick, wolf-like attacks at its limbs.

 ** _“Ready.”_** Kanaya’s psychic ‘voice’ called out, her eyes and hands glowing brightly.

“Hold!” Brienne answered, eyes locked on the other two Pokémon. “Aim for its head. We want this thing to go down.”

 ** _“Holding.”_** Her voice sounded a little strained.

Dirk finally maneuvered the large Pokémon so that its back was to the field. He dashed away just as quickly as he had originally dashed in.

“Now, Kanaya! Dirk, fire one yourself when ready!”

The pink energy went flying from the small psychic type and slapped the much bigger Pokémon upside the head. It spun like a top, teetering from one foot to another. It wobbled.

“One more, you can do it Dirk!”

 _“Aaaaand…there! Boom, headshot!”_ The last shot slammed into the Pokémon just like his sister’s had, causing the poor Snorlax to trip and land on its rear.

It flailed its arms slightly as its head wove from side to side on its shoulders, like it couldn’t quite concentrate on the horizon.

“Good! Now back off!” The two Pokémon did as told, as Brienne shoved a hand inside her jean pockets. She’d started to keep treats on her after the second day. It made things a little easier, instead of having to dig through the enormous pack that she lugged around.

She tip-toed quickly over to the dazed Snorlax, hands filled with a few dried Oran berries and an open packet of poke-puffs. She sidled around the flailing arms.

“Hey, dude, sorry about the impromptu battle. You were kinda in the way. Have a snack as an apology, and take a nap after, mmkay?” She dropped the food at its side and backed away.

The Snorlax rumbled deep in its throat as its nose began to work a lot better than its poor eyes. Short, stubby arms brought the offered food to its mouth in one huge bite.

It licked its lips, snuffled around for more, and finding none, fell over backwards with a snore.

Tension fell out of the shoulders of every person there.

Brienne sighed in relief and grinned, turning to look at Shauna. “Well, that wasn’t as hard as I…”

A budding, growing warmth blossomed in her heart. She spun, and stared at her two Ralts. “Guys?!”

**_“We’re good!”_ **

_ “Oh, this is gonna be awesome.” _

The two flashed into bright white light, their tiny forms changing and growing in height. The light faded away to reveal Kanaya and Dirk’s evolved forms. The image evoked between the two of them reminded Brienne of a child ballet dancer. The green ‘helmet-hair’ had extended to look like longer hair held back by two pink ‘barrettes’ that were their horns. Their overly long dresses had shortened and turned into a tutu, revealing thin green legs.

Kanaya already had her hands on her hips.

Brienne’s Pokédex was already out.

_“Kirlia. The cheerful spirit of its Trainer gives it energy for its psychokinetic power. It spins and dances when happy. It has a psychic power that enables it to distort the space around it and see into the future.”_

“Wow. That’s…you are fantastic, both of you.” Brienne approached her first Pokémon and knelt down, hugging them both. “Good job to you both.” She kissed them both on the head, between the horns. “Love you.”

The explosion of warm, fuzzy feelings in her chest was answer enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of this chapter, "Eyes of the Beholder"'s stats are as follows:  
> 42,009 words (as counted by MS Word)  
> 103 pages in MS Word  
> 342 Hits  
> 23 Kudos  
> 22 Comments  
> 9 Chapters  
> 6 Months and   
> 18 Days of work.  
> This is the biggest piece of fiction I've ever written, guys. Thank you so much for giving me the inspiration and motivation to keep working on this story. It is a fact of life, writing is hard. Very, very hard. Your continued appreciation of this story helps me write and makes the story thrive.   
> Stick around. There's more coming.


	10. I've Got It, Just Breathe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader learns more about Calem, Brienne, AND Shauna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Here's the chapter update for the end of the month. Ya'll are getting it now 'cause February is short, and there's something I'm really excited to show you guys in the notes at the end of the chapter.   
> ...Don't really expect an update in February. I don't know. We'll see.   
> So yeah. Enjoy your chapter! Leave kudos and comments!  
> (Seriously, leave comments. I always answer them AND I tend to talk a lot.)

_“Lalonde, Shauna. It’s Calem. Want to meet up at the Battle Chateau today? I want to see if they’ll let me join. It’s a great place to train and get extra cash for travelling. Why look for a trainer on a route if they’ll come to you? I’ll be there around one today, and afterwards we can stop off in Ambrette Town for the night. I’ll see you both there if you can make it.”_

The Holo-Caster beeped at the end of the message, and dimmed slightly as it went back to the menu screen. Shauna sighed and pocketed the small device. She was going to have to come up with some sort of excuse for two people now. Darn.

Brienne bounced, excited and awake after her first cup of strong coffee. “Oooh, finally, challenges!”

They’d been in Camphrier Town for a week, and while training quietly with the Pokémon they had on them and tending to a berry farm that had been abruptly lent to them was fun, it didn’t get them anywhere.

And Shauna needed to head back to Lumiose. She had a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and needed a prescription refill. The walk back would most likely take all day and somewhat into the night.

It was going to greatly suck. Chester _had_ just evolved, but he was still a tiny little thing and she couldn’t exactly ride him yet.

She nibbled at her omelet, not horribly hungry but knew from experience that she had to get something down.

At least it was mostly downhill from this direction.

She pasted on a smile. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”

Brienne blinked at her multiple times, and while that meant Brienne was running Shauna’s words through her head a couple times for context—thinking critically didn’t turn on for Brienne until she had a bit more food in her, it made conversations in the morning hilarious, and she was so horribly cute—it meant the lie about to come out of her mouth had to be really, really convincing.

“You’re not coming with me?” The question was innocent enough. Brienne was simply confused.

“Nooo…” She pouted for effect. “My aunt, she’s pretty much the matriarch of the family since Grammie died, declared a family gathering, and I have to head back to Lumiose, where Mom’ll pick me up. She called while you were in the shower. Sorry.”

Brienne sang in the shower. It made sense she wouldn’t have heard a call. And all her family would cover for her if asked. They’d gone over this. She’d even gone over this with Professor Sycamore!

“Oh!” Brienne nodded, and shimmied over to squeeze her in a hug. “All right. You have fun there, and I’ll give your regrets to Calem. I’m pretty sure he’ll understand.” She nudged Shauna’s shoulder with her forehead. “When will I see you again?”

Huh. That was actually a good question. She’d be in Lumiose a while, too.

“I’ll meet up with you in Shalor City. I’ll even have Mom drive me there if you get there quickly, so give me a call when you start to get close.”

“Can do.” She pecked Shauna’s cheek, smiling.

Shauna smiled back.

~*~

Brienne yawned and stretched, having made it just across the river where they had she had battled the Snorlax a week before.

The Snorlax itself was still sleeping in that same grassy patch. It had moved maybe ten feet.

Route Seven itself was gorgeous. She could completely understand why generations of kids attempted the eight-gym challenge.  The scenery was fantastic. The Ilumé River was bright and clear, light reflecting off it enough to make it almost painful to stare at too long. It swam lazily, the Route itself following parallel, heading west towards a rocky coastline. To her south, endless fields of green lay, where she had learned in Camphrier a strong community of farmers lived and worked, feeding and supplying a good chunk of the region.

There were moments she couldn’t believe what she was seeing—her mind supplied her with excuses, maybe perhaps she had fallen into a coma—but what she saw hadn’t yet disappeared, or given her an extreme gap in reason. She was still in a land where many of the dominant species could shoot electricity or change shape once they got to a certain age. It felt more like she’d been dropped on a planet where the inhabitants had _tried_ to mimic Earth but had gotten just a few things wrong after reading a bunch of science fiction and fantasy.  

She wanted to go home. She forced herself to believe that home was on the other side of the challenge, after all eight badges and the mysterious Elite Four. She just had to power on.

She could already see the Battle Chateau in the middle distance. Just another few minutes of hard skating and she’d be there well in time.

She couldn’t wait to see Calem’s face when he discovered that three of her Pokémon had evolved. He wanted a rival; he was going to get one.

~*~

The smarmy smile on her face still hadn’t faded by the time she made it to the chateau. The building itself was on a point between the tiny Shabboneau Castle and the huge Parfum Palace. Made of a solid grey stone she couldn’t identify by sight alone, it sat over the river on a narrow spot between the banks, the foundations thrust into the water, with arches between them to let it flow unimpeded.

Calem himself leaned against the doorjamb of two dark wood doors, his arms crossed and his head on his chest.

“Long time no see, Calem!” She grinned as she stopped, clicking her boot-skates flat.

He picked his head off his chest, one eyebrow rising towards his hairline. “Likewise. Where’s Shauna?”

“She said she had a family commitment to meet, so she’s on her way back to Lumiose. Wanted me to convey her regrets. She wanted to come, too.” She shrugged. “So it’s just me!”

The grin on her face was much too saucy to be apologetic, she knew. She did not care.

“Ah. So I see.” He pushed off the stone and looked her up and down. “Brought your pack with you?”

“You said you wanted to head to Ambrette Town after this. I had to grab everything. Doesn’t mean I can’t battle.”

“Of course.” He nodded, before stepping up to the entrance and pulling the door open. “Ladies first.”

Brienne blinked in surprise. “Thank you.”

~*~

They didn’t make it past the foyer. The two sharply dressed servants stationed at the doors took one look at their attire, sneered as politely as it possibly was to sneer, and blocked their way further into the chateau.

“I am sorry, sir, madam, but only the nobility can continue past this point. If you are…waiting for someone, you must wait outside.” The two servants closed ranks on the trainers, stepping well into Calem’s personal space, and glared down their noses.

Calem glared right back. If they were gonna get snippy about it, he wasn’t going to let them have it so easily. “What makes you think we aren’t nobility? Think we can’t cut it in battle?” He quirked an eyebrow, slowly, daring the two over-glorified guard dogs to egg him on.

“Lalonde?” Brienne had been silent too long. “What about you?”

The girl herself slouched, shoulders bowed and head down, already turned toward the door. “They said we aren’t allowed. That’s that.” She shrugged one shoulder as she faced him, disappointed frown growing. “Bet we can make it to Ambrette Town before sunset.”

He blinked at her in shock, his jaw dropping ever so slightly. What happened to that overconfident girl in Santalune and Lumiose? “Lalonde?” He forgot his fight with the snooty, over-glorified butlers and turned towards her. “C’mon.”

A door on the other side of the foyer, beyond the servants, clicked open, letting a small flood voices and the distant sounds of Pokémon battles through. 

“—I was completely taken off guard, Hennessy, she barely had to say anything to her Pokémon, I couldn’t…” Viola trailed off, her eyes landing on the two beginner trainers by the front doors. “Oh! Speak of the devil.” She grinned, gesturing to her companion that had come through the doors with her. “Hennessy, these are the two most recent trainers to come through Santalune Gym and win.” She shooed off the two butlers, a hand waving dismissively to the side.

The two butlers, for their credit, did not protest. The effect was negated when they continued to glare from off to the side.

Calem eyed the older man, refusing to let any of his thoughts show on his face. He skimmed over the fine clothes and expensive haircut, noting the sharpness in his eyes. This guy knew battling.

Viola hummed for a moment. “May I introduce…Calem and Brienne, was it?”

Calem gave a short nod. He had a feeling in his gut that he may be able to get into the Chateau today after all. “Hello, Leader Viola.”

She grinned, a hand on her hip. “None of that formality here, they’re already over the top about nobility rank.”

“Come now Lady Viola, you know that’s why we’re all here.” He snorted. “Children of the displaced, old nobility of Kalos trying to reclaim glory days long gone.” The wry look on his face turned to a chuckle. “I am Lord Hennessy. Welcome to the Battle Chateau. Do you have a rank here? From what Viola was telling me, you are more than qualified for one.”

The much younger man shook his head. “No. In fact, we were hoping to earn a place here today.” He motioned to Brienne. At mention of her name, she stood a little straighter, but still hadn’t said anything.   
She usually wasn’t this quiet. Had she already lost her fire at one roadblock? She seemed so much more energetic, just before they entered the building.

Hennessy hummed, a smile appearing on his face and fire growing in his eyes. “Of course. And I have a hunch that you’re just what this place needs.”

Viola side-eyed him. “Are you thinking what I think you are?” She grinned.

“Why, Lady Viola, am I that predictable in my old age? Dear me, I am losing my touch.”

Calem’s eyes bounced between the two of them as if he was watching a tennis match.

“Hennessy was the man that brought me into the Battle Chateau nobility. He has a…eye, you could say, for the underdogs.” Viola smiled.

She patted his shoulder with long familiarity. “I will vouch for them both.”

“Fantastic!” Hennessy shuffled a hand into his trousers pocket, coming out with two small medals. “Young Lord Calem, Lady Brienne, will you hereby accept the title of Baron and Baroness, and enter into the ranks of the nobility here at the Chateau?”

Calem couldn’t help it. He grinned. “Yes.” Hennessy quietly handed him one of the medals.

There was no similar answer from Brienne.

“Lalonde?” His curiosity and mild worry went up as he turned to her and noted her pinched expression. She did not want to be here.  The question was why.

Hennessy repeated his question, this time much softer than his first confident declaration. “Will you hereby accept the title of Baroness, Lady Brienne? It is no slight against you should you not want it.”

Her eyes bounced from the medal in Hennessy’s hand, to Hennessy, to Viola, and finally to himself. He couldn’t quite translate the look on her face. Her lips were pinched tight, the skin around them white. The look behind her eyes said she really did not want to be here. Was it fear?  
That made no sense.

Her voice was the softest he’d ever heard it. “I’ll do it.”

Hennessy nodded once and handed her the medal, before he turned over that same hand and gently kissed the back of it. Calem caught the slight flush of pink on her cheeks that indicated a blush. “I hope to see you rise quickly through the ranks. Good day.”

He nodded once to Viola, and quickly left through the front doors.

“Welcome to the nobility of the Battle Chateau. The system here works like this, if you wish to get started. You are both on the lowest level. You can only challenge those of your level and lower. Someone in a higher level may challenge you if they are impressed by your technique and skills. As you will Pokémon battles, your level will rise. Before each battle, there is a set amount of money that is wagered. You cannot battle if you do not have the funds to wager.” Viola explained.

They both nodded.

“Good! Now, I’ve got to go! Good luck you two! I expect to hear some crazy stories soon!” Viola all but dashed out after Hennessy, humming a quiet tune.

Calem grinned down at the small medal in his hand. “Want to go make a mark, Lalonde?”

“All right.” Her voice was still soft. He was long past confused, but it wasn’t his place to ask if she didn’t offer up.

“Let’s go.” He strode towards the second set of doors.

The two butlers in the foyer glared at them until they vanished from sight.

~*~

The sun was low in the sky when they emerged from the Battle Chateau. The two trainers were sore, drained, but very, very pleased with their Pokémon and the new funds in their pockets.

The ‘nobility’ of the Chateau had been complete suckers for double battles, and absolutely clueless to what it took to actually train a Pokémon.

Then again, Calem thought as he rolled the kinks out of his shoulders and neck—that was just the lower class of trainers, most of whom had bought their Pokémon. The higher classes should be more of a challenge.

He’d be coming back here a lot.

He glanced at Brienne, who struggled to readjust her camping pack on her shoulders, grunting at the weight of it. He fought to hide a smile before she looked up at him and noticed. Her short, dirty-blonde hair was well beyond mussed, and her hazel-green eyes were a dark olive in the late afternoon light. The pale skin on her face gave way to a pink nose—sunburned.

It was only when he got his expression under control did he open his mouth. “Ready to head for Ambrette Town? Or do you think your Pokémon need more training? I seem to remember covering your Pokémon at a few points.”

She glared up at him. It would have been effective if her nose didn’t scrunch up at the same time.

“Tch. I think it was the other way around, Calem. Got a bit of a faulty memory there? Hit your head somewhere between Lumiose and Camphrier?” She rolled her eyes and began to stomp up west. “Let’s go, I do not want to be stuck outside once the sun sets.”

He followed, lazily. “You do know where you’re going, right?”

She craned her head over her shoulder enough to yell back at him, “West, right? Hit the coast and then head north. No problem!”

She pushed on, head bowed against the glare of the slowly setting sun.

It didn’t take much for him to catch up. He didn’t like shouting. “Yeah, pretty much, if you take the Connecting Cave.”

She froze in her tracks. “What.”

A wave of mild confusion hit him. What was so bad about a cave? “Connecting Cave? There’s a natural cave that’s been evened out for a quick path from here to route eight and Ambrette Town.”

He watched Brienne tense up, almost muscle by muscle. It was just a cave.

“I don’t do caves.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? It’s the only path _to_ Ambrette Town.”

“I. Don’t. Do. Caves.” She bit out, fists clenched.

“Look. Let’s just get to the entrance, and I’ll show you it’s an easy path.”

Her face had turned stony. “Just to the entrance. Then I’m going the long way, even if it means going over a mountain.”

~*~

Brienne had been fighting nausea ever since Calem had mentioned the word ‘cave.’ She hated caves.

Now she was staring at the dark, gaping mouth of an entrance to one, and she did _not_ want to go in there. At all. Ever. She’d climb a mountain first.

“No. Not going in there.”

She could see that Calem was confused and a little annoyed that she refused to go further. “It’s a straight line. Are you scared?” His voice was just a little bit mocking.

“Yes, actually.” She snarled. “Last time I was in a cave it fell in on me and I was trapped!” Anger was a great way to disguise fear. She’d learned that a long time ago. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t feel like tempting fate again.”

“Ah.” He swallowed, blinking fast, as he assimilated the new information. “I’m sorry, Lalonde. I didn’t mean…”

“I know. I just…” She shook her head hard at nothing. “Do I have absolutely any other choice here?”

“Not to my knowledge. It’s sheer forest all the way to the coast, south of here, and north turns into scraggly badlands. It can be travelled, but not without a _lot_ of supplies and experience.” He poked at his map in an attempt to find some other route.

“All right.” She dropped her chin to her chest, eyes shut tight. “It’s an easy path?”

“Yeah.” Calem’s voice was uncharacteristically soothing. “Quarter of a mile. We’ll be in and out in no time.”

She could already feel the tremors running up her spine. “I’ll be right behind you. Go.” The motion she made with her hand underlined the statement. “I can’t go first.”

“Okay.”

She heard his footsteps over the small bits of gravel crunch before the mouth of the cave as he disappeared completely into the low, almost non-existent light.

There was her heartbeat, pounding away in her ears as she took one, two, three quick steps and threw herself into the cave mouth.

The darkness swamped her, like she’d been dropped into a pool. Her heartbeat sped up to racing and it was all she could hear. Rock dust already coated the back of her throat and she swallowed, and then again, as she tried to force it away.

Why’d the air have to be so thin? She could already feel her ribs aching from where she’d been thrown around, god it was going to happen again. She was going to be buried alive again no no no no no…

Her knees hit the ground and her ears rang with the impact and the faint echoes of someone else’s voice. She couldn’t hear anything through the rock; she was going to be forgotten down here. She couldn’t breathe, all the thousands and thousands of tons of earth on top of her, there just wasn’t any more air…

A flash of white and then a flare of orange threw the _very_ open cave into detail. Dresden and Calem faced her, Calem on his knees with his hands on her shoulders, Dresden focused, the Braixen’s staff planted solidly and lit by fire at the top, a circle of flames five feet in diameter surrounded them.

“Brienne! Focus on me! Listen to my voice.”

At the sound of his voice, she could breathe again. She slumped, the only thing holding her up on her knees was his hands on her shoulders.

His face was inches away, his eyes locked on hers. It was all she could see. “I need you to take deep, slow breaths with me, Brienne. Can you do that?” His voice was sharp, solid. She couldn’t hear her heartbeat race anymore.

She nodded.

“Good. With me. In…and out…In…”

She could breathe again. Shudders ran across her shoulders and down her spine, rumbling aftershocks of the panic attack.

Calem smiled. “I’m going to help you stand, on three. Ready?” He caught her nod. “One, two…three!”

He did most of the work, but by the end of it Brienne was back on her feet.

Dresden whined, the light on his staff slowly fading out, but the ring of fire around them remained. The fire fox shuffled forward and snuggled with his trainer. A wave of calm, soothing peace wrapped around her. Her hand came to rest on the top of his head, fingers digging in and scratching in thanks.

“Back with us, Lalonde?” His hands still hadn’t left her shoulders.

“Y-yeah, I think so.” She swallowed once more. The rock dust was gone from her throat.

“Did you know that would happen? Is that why you were so reluctant?” Calem asked, kindly.

“No…I…I haven’t been in a cave since the incident…I didn’t think I’d do that…God…Can we go?” She shivered.

“Yeah.” A nod.

“Dresden…”

The fire fox trilled and looked up at her.

“Can you keep the fire around us as we walk? It’d help.” She scratched harder between his ears.

Dresden barked once and pointed his staff forwards.

“I guess that means yes.” Calem slowly pulled away.

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” Brienne muttered.

She kept her eyes on the fire the whole time.

~*~  

Shauna groaned and rubbed at her temples, shoulders hunched and head bowed as the pain unexpectedly spiked. She’d been keeping an even, if slow pace down route five down to Lumiose City, and the trip was even mostly downhill, but at this point her headache was pounding in time with her heartbeat.

It may have been late afternoon, but she couldn’t help it, the need to sit down, close her eyes, and rest was all she could think about.

Luck seemed to be on her side, there was a very plush spot of grass just off the beaten path. Shauna stumbled over, squinting as much light out as she could. She hated the fact that with the headaches came some _massive_ photosensitivity. It made going outside some days nearly impossible without sunglasses.

Her drop to the ground was less than graceful, and she landed solidly on her behind. She whined, she couldn’t help it and there was no one around to uselessly fuss over her for it, and covered her eyes with her hands. The pain lessened only slightly.

She let her backpack fall off her shoulders and brought her knees to her chest. She hated this part. She… _handled_ the bigger issues, tolerated the nausea and occasional loss of balance, but the headaches were the worst part of this.

She shuddered, and groaned again when she noticed the aura sparks exploding behind her closed eyelids. Oh, fuck. She knew what was coming.

She concentrated on her breathing and the feel of the worn denim over her knees. She would not lose consciousness. She would _not_ lose consciousness.

“Hey, are you all right?” A soft, feminine voice asked over her head, their hand landing lightly on Shauna’s shoulder.

It was all she could do to whine quietly and shake her head.

The hand went from resting on her shoulder to wrapping an arm around her back. “What do you need?”

Ugh. Hopefully she wouldn’t puke all over herself and this stranger. Shauna unclamped her jaw. “Lumiose Hosp’tal.”

“Okay. We’re not all that far. I’m going to pick you up.” The stranger said.

The arm around her back tightened, and the other joined in under her knees. A second later she felt herself leave the ground, and tried _really_ hard not to lose breakfast.

Shauna inched her eyelids open a crack, in an attempt to see just who had come to her rescue. All she could see was the fabric of a dark lavender head wrap.

“Who’re you?” She groaned, resting her head on the woman’s shoulder.

There was a pause in the woman’s stride. “…Handmaid.”

~*~

The cave opened up to a view of storm-blown rocks and sand, the faint sound of waves crashing in the distance. Brienne and Calem emerged to an early sunset, the sky only just beginning to splash brilliant hues of oranges and pinks into the clouds.

Brienne dropped to her feet against a convenient rock at the sight of sky once again over her head. Her eyes locked themselves on the sky, only barely wincing at the sun in her face, and took deep, deep breaths as she reassured herself.

Dresden parked himself on her lap and snuggled himself under his chin, exhausted from psychically holding a ring of fire.

“That sucked. That sucked so much.” Her arms wrapped around her tired fire-fox.

Calem crouched next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you gonna be okay to keep going? Ambrette Town isn’t far from here, another mile, mile and a half.”

“Yeah, just…” The shaken girl buried her face in the fur of the back of her Pokémon’s head and placed a kiss there. “I need a little time to myself. You want to go ahead and I’ll see you tomorrow?”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “You sure?” The worry softened his face from the polite, standard pose it normally took.

Brienne smiled in an attempt to reassure him. “Yeah. Just gotta head north, right? No problem.”

From his frown, it didn’t quite work. “Don’t take too long. Some of the Pokémon on this route are a little frisky at night.”

“Okay. I’ll keep an eye out.” She dropped her chin on top of Dresden’s, and he didn’t seem to mind. His two ears framed her face.

She watched as Calem stood too his full height, re-shouldered his pack, and jogged off into the growing darkness.

The warm-fuzzy-safe-calm feeling she was getting in a deluge from Dresden was a nice change from the extreme anxiousness and fear she’d ridden out through the cave. She wanted to indulge a little bit longer. The fire fox nudged at her chin and she brought her fingers up to scratch at his ears where he liked.

She was okay. She’d made it through and nothing had happened. She could do it again if she tried. Maybe.

~*~

Night had fallen not too long ago when Brienne finally stood to make her way to Ambrette Town. Dresden had fallen asleep in her lap, and so she had returned him to his pokéball.

A fire type would have been nice to help her to make her way to the town Center, but she had a flashlight and could easily make due.

For a moment she blinked her gaze away from the piece of ground immediately ahead of her and looked up at the night sky, and gaped.

Stars among multitudes of stars revealed themselves in the night sky, as if some great creator had tried to shove as many points of light into the inky black as they could and still call it ‘night.’ The rim of the galactic cluster ripped a line of pale, pastel white across the depths, brighter than she’d even seen from the Milky Way galaxy in her own sky. Gentle curls waved off the main path like the searching tendrils of a vine. The moon was a thin, bright crescent of white in one impossible corner of that night sky.

For a moment vertigo swept over her as she stared into that infinite, and wondered.

It took a bright flash of light in the corner of her vision to get her to look down again. A pale yellow light bobbed at about waist height.

“Hey, is anyone there?” Brienne couldn’t see anything behind the light. Grabbing a quick glimpse of the ground in front of her with her flashlight, she headed towards the second light. 

The yellow light flared, and she blinked once at the strength of it, and then the light began to rise.

She couldn’t pull her eyes away from it, at this point. “Okay, not a flashlight. Who are you?”

For some reason, she couldn’t quite muster up any fear. Her head had already gone fuzzy and heavy, just like that first time she’d gotten really, _really_ drunk at Bran’s house. She’d somehow gotten invited to a college frat party. She got laid.

The hangover the next day had _not_ been worth it.

The light was bouncing, slowly, as it came closer. Her head tilted as she tried to make out the features of the thing coming towards her.

**_“Brienne, Brienne snap out of it, you’re being mesmerized, you’ve got to wake—“_ **

Kanaya’s voice faded from her mind, barely a whisper in the first place, and everything vanished into a dull, grey nothingness.

~*~

The world blinked back into existence rather suddenly.

There was a brisk wind blowing hard into her face. The sound of waves—crashing onto sand and hard rock—that she’d been hearing ever since she got out of Connecting Cave was louder than she last remembered it. She could easily see the moon and some stars reflecting off the ocean. Brienne peered down past her feet and squeaked in surprised fear.

Hard, strong ocean waves crashed against the cliff face she was standing on the very edge of.

Every muscle in her body locked up in fright.

**_“Easy, easy, Brienne, I’ve got it. Just breathe, and slowly take a step back. Just one.”_ **

Kanaya’s mental voice was a godsend.

She dragged her right foot backwards and very, very slowly, put her weight on it.

**_“Good. Now the other one. That’s right. Just like that. Now you’re going to spin in place, and walk away from the cliff edge.”_ **

At the bottom of the slope stood Kanaya and one other Pokémon that Brienne had not seen before. In the light of Kanaya’s psychic hold, it honestly looked like a floating cuttlefish.

Brienne edged her way to her Pokémon, heart in her throat and eyes locked on the interloper. “What the hell?”

**_“Inkay. Not exactly the…nicest psychic types on the planet.”_ **

The Pokédex chirped as she turned it on and she winced at the LED light display.

_‘Inkay, the revolving Pokémon._ _Opponents who stare at the flashing of the light-emitting spots on its body become dazed and lose their will to fight.’_

She scanned a little further down the blurb. “Psychic and dark type?”

**_“Yes. Could you catch this thing please? I’m having a hard time holding it.”_ **

It took her a quick shuffle in the outside pockets of her pack, but she found a pokéball. “Right, how did Calem say this went?”

She eyed the floating cuttlefish and chucked the pokéball. It bounced off the gelatinous head, flashed, and the Inkay was sucked in. The pokéball dropped to the sandy ground.

Brienne peered at the orb on the ground. It wiggled once, twice, and then chimed and went still.

“Sooo…now I have a Psychic/Dark type. Now what?” She picked it up and stared at the pokéball in her hand.

Kanaya’s voice was deadpan. **_“Pokémon Center. Food. Sleep. NOW.”_**

“Yes Ma’am. Going.”

The newly filled pokéball was clipped to her belt.

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!!!!!  
> There is an askblog for this fic!  
> "Eyes of the Blogger." Go to: www.ask-eotb.tumblr.com  
> Go check it out! There's already a piece of fanart up for it. Go ask me things! Brienne will be happy to answer your questions! (Click on the three white bars in the top-left corner, and it'll give you a drop-down menu.)
> 
> Also, a small note from Tvtropes Pokemon Nightmare Fuel page:  
> Inkay and Malamar in X and Y. To boot it off for a start, they are the first Pokemon to be typed Dark/Psychic. They are Cthulhumanoids who have the power to control others. And it's implied that people have tried to use them in the past for their own nefarious schemes. Try not to think about that too hard. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	11. "...I'm starting to forget, what summer ever meant to you..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the eyes of the beholder, for just a moment the picture frame pulls back to reveal the whole image. One struggles to understand, but by then, the view has already returned to the tiny frame of before.  
> ....Hail, Trainer, and be wary.  
> Or the chapter when Brienne and Calem flirt and shit happens on the solstice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKay guys, extra long chapter for ya. Cheer to the heavens and enjoy it, 'cause I don't know when the next one is coming out. March is gonna be a packed month for me.   
> (Knowing Ryuu she's gonna give me bunnies for this fic ANYWAY.)  
> Ryuu the sheer detail in this chapter is all your fault. You and your scenery porn. XD

The late-morning sun sparkled on the surface of the ocean, the water itself crashing gently against the beach and cliffs below. The Ambrette Town Pokémon Center stood high above the beach, and Brienne sat at a computer console next to a window, eyes focused on the screen as she fiddled with a pokéball on the desk in front of her, a Kirlia sitting quietly in her lap, reading as well.

Or, well, it was quiet only if you weren’t in on the conversation.

“Inkay, the revolving Pokémon,” Brienne read softly to Dirk, “It is the only dual-typed psychic and dark Pokémon found so far. Located only in the Kalos region, it strongly resembles a cuttlefish.” She sighed, and skimmed down the rest of the physical stats.

 _“So what are you gonna do with it?”_ He nudged at the pokéball that sat under his trainer’s fingers. _“You’re not exactly one for catching wild Pokémon, or you’d have gladly captured that Pikachu back in Santalune Forest.”_

She shrugged. “Keep it, I guess. I mean, the thing hypnotized me and walked me to the edge of a cliff. Maybe it’ll calm down now?”

_ “Mnnn. Want me and Kanaya to keep an eye on it?” _

“If you want.” She scrolled down the page on the online poké-pedia, her attention landing at the trainer comments. “I should be able to handle it.”

  *          _My Inkay’s adorable! The worst it does is small, harmless pranks that do nothing but make me smile. The rumors are completely false!_
  *          _My friend’s Inkay was relatively harmless. It was even a good battler. But the second it evolved into a Malamar it refused to obey commands, was extremely violent in battles, and even nearly turned on its trainer. We ended up having to give Malamar up, and we sent it to the psychic gym in Anistar._
  *          _My Inkay, and later my Malamar, is very well behaved. It’s even there to soothe me when I wake up from nightmares!_



_“Okay. But be careful, please? Don’t want our mom to get messed with by a Pokémon that thinks it’s better than everyone else.”_ Dirk snuggled in closer to Brienne.

 _Mom._ Something grabbed Brienne around her heart and spine and clenched. She could only shut her eyes and ride out the feeling.

“Love you too,” She whispered, and wrapped her arms around the Kirlia.

Calem slid into the seat next to Brienne holding a tray loaded with what looked like lunch. “Wow. I’m surprised to see you up so early. Has this journey turned you into someone who actually gets up at a normal time?”

Brienne quickly shrunk the pokéball and reattached it to her belt, only ninety percent sure she had imagined the wry grin on her friend-slash-rival-slash-eye-candy. “I can get up at a normal time just fine, thank you very much. I just don’t like doing it. Mornings are for sleeping.”

“Ah-huh. Well, it’s pretty much lunch time now. I suggest food for you and your Pokémon. After that, I thought we could go see the Fossil Lab in town.”

“You didn’t go yesterday?” Admittedly, Brienne had spent most of that day in bed in her PJs. Nightmares sucked, and they kept you from getting real sleep.

Saturn was a _real_ cuddle-bug when he relaxed, and he smelled a bit like lavender and her mother’s spice rack. It’d been a hard thing not to spend all day just snuggling him and sniffing.

“No. It’s not as fun going by myself, and Shauna’s back in Lumiose. Trevor and Tierno are who _knows_ where, finding _all_ the Pokémon and their dance moves. And, well, you looked like you could use a whole day in for yourself.” He shrugged, his concentration on the sandwich halfway to his mouth.

“Oh.” No, Brienne, you will not blush. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

He swallowed, gesturing to her pokéballs. “So, what’d you catch? Your belt’s nearly full.

Huh. He wasn’t going to acknowledge her gratitude. All right. “An Inkay. I kind of ran into it.”

An eyebrow went up. “Psychic and dark type? You seem to be showing a preference there.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t kick your a—rear,” She quickly corrected herself. “From here to Vaniville.”

“I’ll see it when I believe it, Lalonde.” Calem furrowed his brows. “Have you named it yet?”

“Oh!” Brienne wrinkled her nose. “No, I haven’t.” She grinned, showing more teeth than was friendly. “Gl’bgolyb.”

“What.” He opened his mouth to repeat the odd-sounding word, but then shut it when the consonants wouldn’t quite process. “That’s a name?!”

The cackle Brienne let out leaned on the side of unholy. “Gl’bgolyb. Or Glubby, for short.”

“Riiiiiiight.”Her rival couldn’t help but sidle slightly away. He motioned toward the self-serve buffet. “Go get food. I’ve been waiting on you long enough.”

Dirk hopped off her lap long enough to let his trainer up, and then sat back into the chair, staring intently at Calem.

Brienne was halfway to the end of the line when she heard her Pokémon’s mental chuckle. _“Let’s see how long I have to stare at him before he gets uncomfortable.”_

~*~

The Ambrette Town Fossil Lab was well lit, if a little dusty. Brienne wiggled her nose and tried not to sneeze.  

Calem looked happy as a clam, his nose an inch away from a glass display of a large skull with a short horn on top. On closer inspection, the label read, ‘ _Dragonite skull, found on Rt. 10, 1954._ ’

The twenty year-old eyed the skull, sight following the lines from the horn down the top of the head, around the snout, ending at the small but razor-sharp teeth.

Why did that skull remind her of some of the skulls she had seen in the Smithsonian? Aquatic dinosaur, maybe? Her chosen career before her world turned upside-down may have been music, but her father had gone to college and taken many geology classes. That, plus one of the country’s best natural history museums just a day-trip away, ensured a day spent there every couple of years eyeing the old and new exhibits.

Science was just plain cool and anyone who said otherwise would be earning their lumps.

A technician in a white lab coat shuffled their way as Brienne pinched her nose shut, fighting off another sneeze.

“Oh, hello! We don’t get many visitors who like fossils just for the fact that they’re fossils! That one there is dated to be about three-thousand years old, though we don’t quite know why it was found where it was.”

Bright lights turned on behind Calem’s eyes. Brienne fought to hide a smile, it was endearing. “Really? That’s a shame. Nothing in the surrounding soil to suggest cause of death?” Calem’s attention was split between technician and skull.

The technician shook his head. “No, sadly. The only thing we could puzzle out was that all the stone around the skeleton was sedimentary. All compressed plant matter, from about three-thousand years ago. That, and a lot of soil. It’s one of the most complete skeletons we have of Dragonite, actually. The Pokémon are long-lived, and those in the wild disappear when they feel their time is ending. They just up and vanish.” He sighed. “The rest of the skeleton is currently being analyzed for anything we might have missed back in 1954; otherwise the body would be displayed as well.”

“Poor timing then…that’s fine.” Calem’s shoulders slumped ever-so-slightly.

“Can I help you with anything else?” The technician’s face was wide and open, ‘helpful’ written all over it.

Brienne opened her mouth and sneezed, and then sneezed again.

“A tissue, perhaps?” The technician grinned.

She sniffled, the look on her face baleful. “Do you know anything about mega-evolution?” Her sinuses were already flooding. “Or at leas’ a direction to look in?”

“Hmm…” He peered at his clipboard. “No, sorry. It doesn’t even ring any bells for me.”

She sniffed again. “’Kay, thanks.”

“However…The professor’s assistant may know something. He’s currently working a small dig in Glittering Cave, if you want to go talk to him. Tell him Carson sent you, and you should be fine.”

Calem nodded. “Thanks.”

Brienne was too busy going pale to say anything.

~*~

“Nope. Not going.”

The two faced each other outside the Fossil Lab, one stubborn and the other frustrated.

“Lalonde, you’re the one who brought up mega-evolution.” Calem raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a _cave._ And it’s a cave I don’t have to go through to get somewhere else. You _do_ remember my reaction to the last cave, right?” She folded her arms, stubborn.

He smirked. “You can do better this time. Once you realized it wasn’t going to fall on your head, you were fine.”

Her metaphorical hackles rose. “Oh, if _that’s_ what you call fine then I hate to see what ecstatic looks like.”

He huffed a breath out through his nose, actively steeling himself. “Look, Lalonde, I want to compete against you because I saw something fantastic in Santalune. If a measly cave is all it takes to stop you in your tracks, then I was wrong.”

He turned on his heel. “I’m heading towards Glittering Cave. I’ll see you there. Or not.”

Brienne bared her teeth at his steadily retreating back. “Fuck you, asshole!” He may or may not have heard her.  

Her fists clenched tight as she stomped back to the Pokémon Center. She was going to dance all over his haughtiness in a Pokémon battle the second he got back from that cave and she needed to make sure her Pokémon were fighting fit.

So what if she couldn’t handle being in a cave? There was a perfectly good reason for it.

Brienne stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at the ocean in front of her. She ground her teeth hard enough to make her jaw ache.

“That douchebag is completely right.” She snarled, turned on her heel and dashed for the path to the cave. She might be able to catch up to him if she hurried.

~*~

She braced her hands on her hips and glared at the entrance to Glittering Cave. Ryhorn rides were always a bit bumpy, but the mild bruises she would have later were the least of her worries as she eyed the hole into the rock face.

She had her five Pokémon, a side bag with a few odds and ends, and an Escape Rope that a hiker had just given her.

Teleportation in a rope. This world was _still_ breaking her brain with its wacky physics.

She narrowed her eyes. It was either go forward or turn back, at this point. She _could_ stand here and wait for Calem to come out again, but he’d just call her a coward in so many words.

_She was no coward._

Keeping up a litany of curses under her breath, Brienne stormed into the cave with her hands fisted at her sides.

She was fine for the first thirty seconds, the flash-fire of irritation and rage blotting out the fact that there were a few thousand tons of rocks over her head. Then her subconscious caught up with her situation and the pounding of her heart registered in her ears.

“Oh, fuck me and fuck everything that’s happened in my life, this is really just a total piece of shit.”

She gasped in one breath, then another, fear contracting in a steel band around her ribs.

“Fuck, fuck fuuuuck….”

She put her hands over her face and whimpered, stuck frozen in place.

This was it. Calem was going to come back and find her standing in place not fifteen meters from the exit of the cave. God damn it.

A pokéball shook and flashed on her belt, releasing her newest acquisition.

“Inkaaaaay!” The floating cuttlefish bounced in the air at eye height and somehow seemed to smile at its new trainer.

“…What.” Brienne blinked, just a little bit clueless.

The Inkay waved the two longer tentacles on either side of it, and flew forward to gently bop its trainer in the forehead with her glowy head cap. “Ink! Kay kay!”

Somehow, the panic had subsided a bit. The fear was still there, but she wasn’t flipping out into a useless puddle. “Gl’bgolyb?”

The Inkay paused, seemed to think the name over, and then bounced in the air in excitement. “Inkay!”

“Guess you like it, then. Great.” She felt a little overwhelmed.

The glowy head cap lit up like a flashlight, and the cuttlefish bobbed forward, further into the cave.

Now that panic wasn’t taking over her brain with the intensity of a zombie horde straight from The Walking Dead, she could take in some of the details of where she was—unlike her recent experience with Connecting Cave, where all she could remember was Dresden’s fire ring.

It hadn’t been named Glittering for nothing. The moss that climbed the walls and concentrated in shallow pools where water had eroded away the rock shone with soft hues of light blue bioluminescence. It crept up the sides of the wide tunnel and across the ceiling, a natural organic net of plant matter that reminded the young woman of fiber optics commercials and constellation maps that had the shape-lines filled in.

Spotted here and there near the cavern floor were sprigs and blossoms of crystal formations that had been left alone after the cave had been excavated. Kryptonite green light poured gently from the quartz-shaped gem and became matching spotlights that lined the path down the cavern tunnel.

It was _gorgeous._

She shuddered bodily, and let all the tension she’d been holding go.

~*~

Glittering Cave was a bit of a maze. Brienne turned left at another wall and wished she’d had the foresight to ask for a map.

Glubby floated along a few feet ahead of her trainer, an indistinct jack-o-lantern, the yellow-white glow of her head cap hazy and unfocused.

The turn revealed another straight-away, one that led to a man-made arch, the glowing moss disrupted around the edges, and the clamor of raised voices.

“Finally,” Brienne sighed and dashed for the doorway, her Inkay keeping pace.

The arch revealed a larger cavern within the cave, clearly man-made. Chisel marks lined the walls, forming relatively even ninety-degree corners. The trainer took a step forward and her heel caught on something metallic. She flailed, arms searching for balance, when her hand slammed into the edge of something solid, dull, and cold, and it clanged.

“Shhhiiiii---OW! What the? A mining cart? In an itty-bitty cave?” Her eyes glimpsed down and caught sight of train-tracks, part of which she had tripped over.

The shouting—and small explosions, now that she listened—was still ahead, the sound bouncing off the stone walls.

Glubby giggled, and bobbed ahead.

Brienne pursed her lips and followed. Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing she that she’d given the Inkay so much free rein so early.

Meh. Worry later.

She took a right, and the shouting got much, much louder, but still no one to match with the shouting. She ran, took the next left hard, and nearly plowed into someone who had to be colorblind.

It was the only way to explain why _anyone_ would wear that much of _that particular_ shade of orange. It was painful, it really was.

“Well, well, look here. We were looking for fossils, and yet all we seem to find are kids. Go away, kid, before I _make_ you.”

Brienne stared. The man before her wasn’t particularly tall, or intimidating. The only truly scary thing about him was the outfit, _and_ the matching hairstyle.

She felt briefly sorry for the hairstylist.

Leaning to the side, she caught a glimpse of Calem in battle with another person who had horribly bad taste, his Frogadier making quick work of the black-furred dog it faced.

“Sorry, but—what?” Her suspension of disbelief had been left somewhere near the entrance to the cave.

“You heard me! We’re Team Flare!” At this he did a silly little dance that had him ending up with his arms held one over the other. “We’re the fashionable team that whose very name makes people tremble in fear.”

“The only thing that makes _me_ tremble is the color of that suit. Dear _lord,_ I think my eyes need sunscreen.” If he was going to be ridiculous, she’d return the favor.

He ground his teeth together in anger. “Our _goal_ is to make it so we’re the only ones who are happy. If you’re not Team Flare, we don’t care!”

There was more staring on Brienne’s part. She couldn’t help it. Did this guy know what he sounded like? “Seriously? Okay, like, what _ever_ dude, I don’t give any shits, just go wear that hideous suit somewhere else...”

She made to step past him. Calem had finished his battle and she honestly wanted her information and _out_ of this cave as soon as possible.

“Go, Croagunk!” The large, purple, toad-like thing landed solidly in front of her, blocking her path. “I don’t think so. You insulted Team Flare’s fashion! Didn’t they teach you not to play with fire?”

She skipped back from the Pokémon, annoyed. “No, actually, playing with fire’s fun…And I’ll have a certain flair when I’m burning that suit of yours. Gl’bgolyb, go! Tackle!”

Glubby happily spun into the attack, making the large toad go tumbling head over heels as it connected.

The Croagunk grunted but stood back up.

“Poison jab!” The toad aimed a purple glowing punch at the floating cephalopod, but missed; Glubby’s bouncing in mid-air making it a hard target to hit.

“Psywave, Glubby!” Pink and purple waves of energy blasted from the cuttlefish’s cap and slammed into the toad.

The effect was rather instantaneous. The toad’s eyes crossed, it wavered, and then fell flat on its face in a faint.

“No, my Croagunk!” The Team Flare member wailed and fell to his knees, his Pokémon flashing back into its ball.

Brienne stared some more. Was this guy even a trainer? “You done?”

“You weren’t supposed to beat me!” He wailed louder and pulled at his hair, the very image of despondent.

“Uh-huh…” She sidled past him, completely unsympathetic.

Glubby followed along, floating serenely over her first conquest, humming away to herself. “In-kay, inkay ink…kaaaay ink!”

Calem was not far ahead. “You made it into the cave after all. I’m surprised.”

She couldn’t tell if that was a smile or a smirk on his face. “Shut it. Let’s find this professor. I’ve had enough of this cave and everything in it.”

“Right.” Calem nodded knowingly and led the way.

~*~

The professor’s assistant had to be the most oblivious person on the planet.

“Teanphlair? No, sorry, I’ve never heard of that Pokémon…” He scratched at his head, mildly confused.

“So you’ve been completely safe this whole time?” Calem asked, confused.

“Why, yes, why would I be in danger digging for fossils? Is there an Aggron in the area?” He asked them, suddenly, going around and collecting his tools. “They’re aggressive Pokémon, and there are a few in the mountain range! Oh dear me, I’ve got to go!”

“No, no!” Brienne waved a hand hurriedly. “We, ah…just wanted to know if you knew anything about mega-evolution? We’ve been researching it.”

Not really, but when a guy gives you another Pokémon and tells you to hunt down mentions of this word, you search.

“Oh. Is that all? Hm…” The assistant went back to staring at the cave wall. “No, no I don’t think I’ve heard of it before. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you very much. We’re sorry for taking up your time.” Calem thanked the assistant, and turned to go.

“Wait! You came out all this way; I can’t have you leaving empty handed! I’ve already found two fossils. You can each have one. Here.” He pulled two distinctly different rocks from a padded box at his feet. One could have come off a jaw of an exaggeratedly drawn shonen hero, the bone itself sharp enough to cut. There were maybe two teeth left attached. The second was much more delicate, a pattern of fins and filaments pressed into a flat stone, the ghost of an ancient wing, perhaps, that had known the brush of wind.

“Really?” Again, her suspension of disbelief had been left at the cave entrance. This was staring to be too much for her.

“Yes! One is a sail fossil, another is a jaw fossil.”

Calem nudged her. “You choose first.”

“But…” She eyed the two rocks. “Sail, please.”

“Here you go, then. And you too, my boy!” The assistant nodded to himself, pleased. “You can have them revived at the fossil lab. Think of it, a prehistoric Pokémon in your team!

Brienne placed the fossil into her side bag. “Okay…”

“Now, go on and shoo. I’m sure you’ve got much more to be doing than digging for fossils.” He pushed them out of his hand-dug nook, making shooing noises the whole time.

The two found themselves standing in the cave, just a little bit befuddled.

“Welp.” Brienne dug into her pack, and pulled out the Escape Rope she’d been given. “Time to go. I am so very done with this cave.”

Calem snorted. “I bet you are.”

“Shut it.”

~*~

The late-afternoon sun drew long shadows over the sandy walk back to Ambrette Town. The path was lined with scraggly, weather-worn trees that blocked the worst of the glare from the sun sitting low over the ocean horizon. Calem found himself having to duck occasionally to avoid low-hanging branches.

He eyed his self-proclaimed rival, walking at his side, who had to work to keep up at the pace he set.

Her hair had been pulled back into a tight ponytail at the back of her head, the ends curling to tickle at the base of her neck. Despite the fear and panic he knew she had been fighting earlier, she stood tall now, shoulders back and eyes forward.

“I wasn’t impressed by your performance in the cave, Lalonde.”

The girl side-eyed him with a mild glare. “Ah-huh. Thanks, _really._ ” She grinned, the curl of her lips crinkling the corners of her eyes. “You needed some work yourself.”

He scoffed. “I wasn’t the one who didn’t want to come in the cave because, and I quote, ‘they’re icky.’” Something like pride bubbled up in his chest. He grumbled to himself and tried to squash it down. She was his competition, fallen from nowhere, he wasn’t supposed to be proud of her!

Lalonde laughed; a loud clap of an exclamation, teeth bared in an even larger smile. “Ha! Right, Remont.”

She spun on one heel and began to walk backward.

He arched an eyebrow, both in question and in mild surprise. “Yes, Lalonde?”

“It’s the summer solstice day after tomorrow. I know you probably want to move on to Cyllage City, but I’m gonna stick around for a little bit longer. There’s something I want to do, and I don’t want to be stuck on the road for it.” Her voice, once again, was oddly hesitant.

“Fine. I’ll see you in Cyllage, then.” He could probably get there with enough time to challenge the gym before she got there, at this rate.

“I’m…having a small celebration on the solstice.” She huffed at him. “I’d ask Shauna, but she’s back in Lumiose, and it’s not really worth it to just celebrate by myself.”

She eyed him, having come to a stop. “There’ll be a bonfire. I’ll bring food and stuff for s’mores, if that helps convince you.”

He stepped close and loomed, putting his height to good use. She held her ground and kept eye contact. He fought to keep the smirk off his face when he caught the blush growing on her cheeks. 

He was a _bit_ curious. There weren’t any holidays coming up any time soon, so for her to mention a celebration herself was tempting. None of the group had been able to get details on where she was from. She’d stubbornly refused to tell them anything, even under the threat of Shauna’s growlithe-eyes and tickling.

“I’ll stick around, Lalonde. Better make it worth my time, though.”

The resulting smile lit up her face, and later, in the privacy of his mind, Calem would admit that it made her look gorgeous.

“Thank you, Calem.”

~*~

The sun burned high in the sky on the twenty-first of June. Brienne stood smack in the center of Ambrette’s marketplace and stared at the list in her hands that she’d scribbled down last night. Saturn sat at her feet, quietly people-watching as his trainer got her scatterbrain arranged the way she wanted it.

“Okay, s’mores ingredients, hotdogs, buns, ketchup, soda, beach chair—I might just rent that out I do not need to lug that around, maybe towels instead?—sage, rosemary, jasmine, wisteria, salt in a pretty big amount…ah…candles, thin cotton, some twine, firewood. Wow. Okay. That’s a shopping list.”

She ran her hand through her hair and stared blankly at the stores in front of her. Half the list would be easy, half the list would be a bit of a hunt, and the last little bit would take some time with Saturn.

She could do this. She could totally do this. She could even do this and not make a fool of herself in front of Calem. Yeah.

“Saturn,” Brienne looked down towards the grass starter at her feet.

“Bulba?”

“Please make sure I don’t make a complete fool of myself tonight and babble my mouth off.”

“Bulbasaur!” Saturn nodded determinedly.

Brienne slumped and sighed. “Thank you dear.”

~*~

Saturn and Brienne stood at the edge of the small forest that stood between the town and the high cliffs nearby. The majority of the supplies for later that night sat in a crate in the itty-bitty room she’d asked the Nurse Joy of the town’s Center for after two nights.

Was the title of Joy something used to denote head nurse, or was there just an army of Joy clones? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Saturn, I need your help for this part. You know this world a whole lot better than I do.” She knelt down to scratch under his jaw, where he melted on his feet.

“Bulbaaaa…”

“I need you to find plants that make you think of summer. Preferably herbs, but if there’s a berry that grabs your attention, that works too. I just…there are so many plants that I don’t know.”

The saurian Pokémon jumped to attention the second his trainer stopped scratching his jaw. “Saur! Bulba, basaur!”

His trainer smiled softly. “You know exactly what to look for, don’t you?”

“Saur!” Saturn leapt immediately into the underbrush, determined to not come out empty handed.

“Whoa, dude, don’t forget about me! Remember, you don’t have hands!” Brienne dashed after him.

~*~

The sun was nearing the horizon, already turning the sky vibrant colors of fire. There was the gentlest hint of purple high in the sky as night time came closer.

The waves alternatively hushed or roared, rolling in and out on the sand. It reminded Brienne so much of Ocean City it hurt. The ocean itself reflected hues of steel and heat, a gorgeous, distorted mirror of the beauty in the sky.

She’d already coached most of her Pokémon on what was going to happen tonight, and what they were going to do if they wanted to help.

Gl’bgolyb had taken one look at the bonfire, and then her trainer, and zapped herself right back into the pokéball.

The fire pit had been dug an hour ago with a lot of help from her three psychics, and Dresden happily got the fire itself going.

The supplies post-ceremony were already out, all Brienne had to do was wait for Calem to arrive, and then she could start.

She paced around the bonfire, nervous. She wanted to start before the sun vanished completely below the horizon.

“Bulbaaaaaaa!” A vine poked at her head from the side.

 ** _“Why’s Saturn telling you to calm down and breathe?”_** Kanaya stared in surprise at the grass type.

The young woman stopped in her tracks and chuckled. “I asked him to keep me calm. He’s taking it very seriously.”

 _“You’ll be fine. Calem’s respectful enough, even if this doesn’t make sense to him.”_ Dirk stood nearby his marker, ready to get started himself.

Dresden shuffled up and snuggled into his trainer’s legs, prompting another ear-scratching. The tension in her shoulders slowly leaked away.

“Thank you guys.” She slowly let the air out of her lungs in a long exhale. “If he’s not here in the next few minutes we’ll start regardless, okay?”

“Bul-bulba! Bulba!” Saturn barked and dashed off.

“What?!” Brienne spun, startled.

 ** _“I believe our guest of honor is here.”_** Kanaya stepped into place, small pouch in her hands.

Saturn came trotting back, leading Calem by the wrist with one of his vines. “Buuuulllbaaaaa!”

The image was so horribly cute Brienne wished she’d gotten a camera for tonight.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming…Lalonde, your Pokémon are just like you.” Calem chuckled, his face open.

For a very fragile moment, Brienne took in how Calem appeared in the setting sun. He’d chosen to wear an older t-shirt that stretched a bit across his shoulders and looked a bit threadbare in one or two places. Instead of hardy jeans, good for travelling, exploring, and battling, he’d thrown on a pair of shorts and some flip-flops. And, for once, there was no hat on his head! His hair caught in the slight breeze off the ocean and into his face, forcing him to brush it out every so often.

His eyes, a deep, dark blue, captured the reflection of the setting sun and it seemed like nature had thrown a spark there.

Her breath stopped in her throat.

_Oh._

The mental cooing from her twins broke the moment. She tried not to twitch violently. She thought she succeeded.

“Lalonde?” He stopped only a few feet away. “Everything okay? You look a little shocked.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I, ah…” She’d gone scatterbrained again.

Saturn sighed and resumed tugging on Calem’s wrist. “Bulbaaaaa…”

**_“Brienne, Mom, snap out of it. Yes he’s hot. That’s not going to change between now and tomorrow. You have something to do!”_ **

She couldn’t help it, she squawked. “Kanaya! Argh! Right, uhm…I got beach towels, go ahead and sit down, I’m gonna start once Saturn decides to let you walk under your own power.” She blushed and bustled towards the bag of salt she’d prepped earlier.

Calem chuckled. “Okay. So, what are you going to do?” He squatted and sat back onto one of the two beach towels.

“Ahh…” She could feel the blood rushing to her ears.

_ “He’s not gonna tease you for having a different religion. He respects you too much for that. And if he does we beat his ass.” _

She got pinker. “Solstice is a celebration of light and life. The joy of the day. Depending on the person it’s also a wish for fertility.” She tried to shrug off the explanation.

“This won’t take too long. For me, this is mostly meditation and unburdening myself of the negativity of the last year.” She nodded towards him. “Thanks for coming.”

“Yeah.” He sat up straighter.

Brienne scratched at her cheek, unable to make eye contact with him. “If there’s any negativity you want to get rid of, just pretend you’re throwing it in the fire as we go. Participation’s totally up to you.”

Calem nodded.

She patted herself down, eyed the set-up, glanced at the setting sun, and nodded. “Okay guys, go time. Saturn?”

The Bulbasaur picked up a wrap of sage leaves with a vine, let the barest of flames lick the tip, and blew it out to the glowing embers.

Brienne herself picked up the sack of salt and stood behind her grass-type. “Remember, clockwise.”

“Saur.” He raised the smudging bundle well above his trainer’s head height, walking in a steady pace. Behind him, Brienne poured a gentle line of salt.

As they completed the circle, she explained to her audience and her Pokémon. “Sage and salt are mystical purifiers.  The sage will keep out interference from the air, and the salt will keep it out from the ground. It’s a substitute for sweeping, as sand makes that difficult.”

Dresden, Dirk, and Kanaya stood around the bonfire, at north, west, and east respectively. Brienne and Saturn took their spot at the south.

This was it.

“I celebrate the Mid-of-Summer, held in honor of the gods of light and dark. All of Nature vibrates with the fertileness of the Goddess and of the God. The Earth basks in the light and life of the Sun.  
The ever turning Wheel of the Year has made the light ever stronger and the light has kept growing longer, until today...”

Until today. Such a simple phrase. Here she was, thanking an earth that was not her own, with gods she did not know.

She gathered all the fear and ache she had for home into four little, hard balls, glaring hard into the fire.

“Gods of the West, we honor thee. Of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, by thy powers do we banish the pain and ask for blessings.” She nodded to Dirk and he gently threw the small pouch he held. On contact with the fire, it burst open, releasing the herbs within.

The sweet and smoky smell quickly wound its way through the air.

One little ball of fear and ache went into the fire. She missed home. She had a new one here.

“Gods of the North, we honor thee. Of Sun, Moon, and Stars, by thy powers do we banish the pain and ask for luck and guidance.”

Dresden tossed his pouch into the air, and using his powers, lit it on fire before it landed. The bonfire flared slightly and settled, crackling merrily.

A second ball went into the fire. She missed her family. While it might be smaller, she’d yet been given another.

“Gods of the East, we honor thee. Of Spirit and Life, by thy powers do we banish the pain and ask for prosperity.”

Kanaya danced her pouch around the bonfire once, clockwise, before psychically opening it and dusting the bonfire with the herbs inside. Sparks rose up, continuing the spiral, into the sky.

A third ball went into the fire. She might have known her place in life, before, but now, she’d been given direction, and a goal. There was drive.

“Gods of the South, we honor thee. Of Mind and Death, by thy powers do we banish the pain and ask for grace and strength.”

Saturn quickly lobbed his pouch into the fire, following it up with a single Kasib berry that he’d _somehow_ found in the forest.

The was a ‘whoomph’ sound, and the fire grew in intensity.

The last little ball of fear and ache went into the fire. Her eyes flicked momentarily to Calem. She had someone to push her, to make her gain the strength she needed.   
There was no need to fear that she couldn’t.

“Let my mind be open to the truth. Let my lips always speak the truth. Let my feet ever walk upon the sacred paths!”

The fire flared again, flames reaching for the sky. She gasped, and Saturn flinched.

Dresden’s staff lit itself with blue flame.

She felt, more than saw, Kanaya and Dirk start with surprise.

**_“What?”_ **

_ “Eh?” _

The bonfire itself turned blue, and both human and Bulbasaur stepped back. All three psychic Pokémon glowed with the power that somehow had come upon them, and were reaching for the sky.

The fire swirled within the confines of power, shimmering and shaping light.

Her twins called, mental voices stronger than she had ever heard them, resonating down her spine.

**_ “Watch, Brienne Lalonde, and see what was and what comes.” _ **

The fire warped.

_…A giant stone flower pierced into the heavens, light growing at its base, shimmering petals vibrating with color. Smaller stones for miles around held limp Pokémon. The light in the stone flower flared impossibly bright, a contained nuclear reaction, and shot towards the stars…_

_…Three stone fingers broke the ground, crashing through buildings like they didn’t exist, rainbow poison petals unfurling from the base. The earth shook and the sky thundered…_

_…Twin dragons of Time and Space roared, spinning, a DNA helix of reality around the world, a glowing sphere…_

_…A woman in hues of purple stood, tied by red strings of her bonds, her loyalty, glowing swords in her hands crossed against the dark in front of her…_

The fire abruptly put itself out as the vision ended, the sun flaring as it finally fell below the horizon, heralding in full night.

The three psychic Pokémon fell backwards, exhausted, their dormant abilities stretched to the limit and back.

Brienne dropped and landed on her ass, completely shocked.

She blinked and turned her head towards Calem, whose jaw seemed to be on the ground.

“You saw that, right?”

He nodded.

She swallowed. “Oh hell.”

“For once, I agree.” Calem muttered.

“Hey, guys, you alive over there?” Brienne called.

Three groans met her inquiry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating fast 'cause holy hell I've got to leave for work in 45 minutes. Wanted to update last night by wahey Ao3 was having issues and the site was down.  
> ...Thank god for caffeine, seriously.  
> Okay guys, you should be having epileptic bunnies by the bucketful by now. I wanna hear about them in the comments!!!  
> (And then I will giggle and tell you nothing. XD)  
> Typos are because of rushing last night so I could sleep and rushing now to post. Let me know if you see any so I can edit later plz. Thx!


	12. Your Songs Know What I Did In the Dark, But I Don't!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Brienne and Calem make it to Cyllage City.   
> There's a Gym Battle on the Horizon. Or, to be a bit more exact...In a cave.
> 
> READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THE CHAPTER NOTES!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the twelfth chapter of this tale. Before you continue reading on, I would like to warn you that there is a scene that describes a full-blown panic attack from the point of view of the person suffering the attack.   
> If this is in any way squicky or triggering to you, I would advise skipping the scene. If you do so, I do separate my scenes with the symbols "~*~" (in quotes). You can use the ctrl+F function to find each one and just jump right by it. Leave a comment at the bottom of the chapter, and I can quickly and painlessly describe what happens for your benefit. 
> 
> With that out of the way, please enjoy the 12th chapter of "Eyes of the Beholder!"  
> Also, please read the notes at the bottom, there's some fun stuff there!

A second, smaller, campfire was built on top of the ashes of the first, a small battalion of matches dying in service before a steady flame caught on the tinder. The wind had picked up enough to make small flames gutter out quickly. She’d returned Dresden, Dirk, and Kanaya to their pokéballs after the end-ritual event had drained a good chunk of their energy.

Saturn shuffled toward the bag of candles, and got to work creating small pits in the sand to protect their smaller flames. He muttered to himself the whole time, quiet, reverent tones that Brienne couldn’t make heads or tails of.

She flopped down on the beach towel next to her guest. “I wasn’t expecting that. Uhm.”

“So I see.” His sight bounced between the campfire and Brienne herself, trying to piece together ‘mystical event’ and ‘lucky if clueless trainer’ and not getting the right answer.

She blinked at him. “Does that kind of thing happen often, because I have no idea.”

His jaw dropped in disbelief. “Really, Lalonde?”

She shrugged. “All I wanted to do was say some words and throw some plants in a fire. I wasn’t expecting a voice and a mysterious movie in my fire.”

He huffed as his eyebrows furrowed in thought, the light from the campfire shaping his face in dark shadows. “The Ralts line and the Fennekin line are both used in stories that need fortunetellers. The old stories have Delphox as oracles, visions born in the light of their wands. Gardevoir can see the future in small glimpses to protect their trainers. Some of the greatest myths have Gardevoir predicting the future and saving their trainers when they need it most. I guess having twin Kirlia and a Braixen on an emotionally charged night for you did the trick.”

“Wow. All right.” She flopped onto her back, arms spread on either side, staring at the night sky.

It’d been a long day and the sun had only just set.

Saturn came trudging up, dragging the crate of foodstuffs behind him with his vines. “Bulbaaaa!”

Brienne turned her head and peered at the junk food and grass-type. “Still want those s’mores, Calem?”

“…Why not.”

“Break out the supplies, Saturn. Yes, I’ll give you some chocolate, stop poking me in the ankle.”

“Bulbasaur!” Packages landed in the sand all around them.

~*~

The distance between Ambrette Town and Cyllage City was at best, a ten-hour walk north. The path was set between high cliffs and calm, sandy beaches. 

The route, technically the second half of Route Eight, contained two things: a picturesque view of the Muraille Coast, and enough trainers to fill Santalune City. Most of who would not take no for an answer, and therefore forced Brienne to take two and a half days to get to the next city.

At least it was two and a half days of training, and all in good weather.

The Pokémon Center in Cyllage City was a godsend.

Calem was waiting for her, gym badge in hand and smirk on his face.

Brienne glared at him. She hadn’t had any coffee in _two_ days. She was expected to take this, really?

“Get waylaid by all the trainers, Lalonde?”

She bared her teeth. “What. Do you. Think?”

He grinned. “At least the practice was good for you. Here comes the practical test. C’mon.”

He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her out the Center doors. Putting both hands on her shoulders, he oriented her towards the cliffs, and the steeply angled road that led up them.

“Wait, what? I haven’t had coffee yet. Calem, you are doing something very dangerous, keeping me from my coffee supply. I’m warning you now; make your point or lose your hands…”

He scoffed gently. “See that plateau halfway up the cliff face, Lalonde?”

 She squinted at the monochromatic cliff face. “Yeaaaah…What of it?”

“That’s the entrance to the Cyllage City Gym.” He answered bluntly.

“Okay?” She blinked at him, mildly confused. “You’re keeping me from coffee. And food, for that matter.”

He released her shoulders. “Go. Heal your Pokémon. We can head to the gym after that.”

“Finally!” She rolled her eyes and headed straight back into the Center. At last, civilization! And coffee!

Calem followed her, face serious and lips a fine line.

~*~

Calem took his time following Brienne up the steep, paved road. He had an odd, niggling feeling in the back of his head that, soon enough, if he wasn’t behind her, she’d turn on her heel and run all the way back to Vaniville Town. And he didn’t want to see her do that, he really didn’t.

“Remont. Where’s the Gym building?” Lalonde froze in her spot, head swiveling back and forth, as she searched for a large building, probably like the one back in Santalune.

“We’re not far. You see the entrance?” He crept closer, bracing himself for a five foot four _maybe_ one-hundred forty pounds soaking wet barreling weight to come speeding at him in panic.

“I _see_ the official Gym sign sitting over an _arch in the cliff face_. That isn’t what you told me, _Remont._ ” Her voice actually held a little snarl. Huh. Maybe he could get her to hold that anger through the battle.  

“No, I told you where the Gym was.” His voice was carefully kept neutral.

“Yeah, right.” Her voice broke on those two words.

Oh, damn. Where’d that sudden anger go? Calem sighed, and continued to follow from behind.

It wasn’t long before they made it to the entrance of the Gym. He really was ready to catch her and keep her from running away. The tension in his shoulders was starting to hurt at this point, though.

Brienne spun on one heel. This was it, she was going to run.

“You only need any eight badges to enter the Pokémon league, right?”

“…Kalos only has eight gyms, period. The next nearest one after the other seven—including the one right in front of you—is on another continent!” No, he was not going to let her run away from this.

“Don’t care, planes are better than caves!” She squeaked, and bounced on her toes, squirming towards his left.

“That’s completely ridiculous!” He readjusted, blocking her planned path.

“Look up the statistics!” She spat out. “Planes are objectively safer for human beings than caves!”

He sighed. He knew what she was doing, and he kind of hated to shoot her down. “It doesn’t matter, because that rule you quoted only applies to the Indigo League, which is _also_ on another continent. The Kalos Championship has to have badges _from Kalos._ ”

She froze and stared at him. He wasn’t even sure if she was breathing, for a moment. A whine emitted from her throat and she slumped, like a marionette with all its strings cut, on her feet. _“Whhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyy?”_

He shrugged. “That’s what the rules say. I’m sorry.”

A tight hiss of breath in. “Fuck, I am so screwed.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders again, and spun her around, gently pushing her towards the entrance of the gym. “You can do it. You made it through Connecting Cave, and you did well enough in Glittering Cave. Now you just need to have a battle, and then everything will be fine. Promise.”

She swallowed and whimpered.

He pushed them both inside, and one part of him was glad to get out of the sun and into the cool cave. The rest of him was mentally preparing for how badly the upcoming battle could go.

He spotted the gym leader coming to greet them, concern written all over his face.

While the secondary challenges weren’t necessary for a badge, and the leaders themselves weren’t cruel, it was a good way for them to get a taste of a challenger’s character.

He had a feeling that Grant could see that Brienne was scared out of her mind, and was going to offer to have the battle outside.

Brienne would be _humiliated._ She’d take him up on the offer, but it’d destroy her self-confidence.

He was _so_ glad he’d already won the badge.

Calem made cutting motions over his throat, and Grant stopped in his tracks, confused. He motioned sharply with his head toward the top of the rock wall challenge, and hoped the leader got the point.

He did. Grant nodded once, turned, and headed away from the two of them, hopefully to the Leader’s box in the arena.

Next: Getting Brienne to the arena. He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “It’s just an icky cave. Nothing to it. C’mon. You can blast through this. I don’t see what your problem is. All you need to do is climb the rock wall and have a battle. Easy as pie.”

He pushed her gently towards the attendant, who would get her into a harness. Rock-climbing challenge? Yeah. Insurance issues with trainers getting injured from falls? Not a thing League gyms were into.

He watched her gather her wits and start to climb the rock wall. Good. She was thinking at least a little.

Now to get to the audience’s bleachers before she got to the top. Where were those stairs?

~*~

_Can’t see can’t see can’t see can’t see can’t breathe can’t breathe no way out no way out ohgodhelpmeplease!_

The middle of the arena was a bright, glaring spot in the center of Brienne’s shrunken, limited vision. Each step was a conscious, forced, painful thought forward. Take a step. _Take a step._ She could feel the rock dust that coated her throat as the sides scraped against each other with every swallow.

Her vision tunneled more with every blink. A bright light in front of her, blurry details, and absolutely nothing else. She couldn’t see. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t move.

She heard a voice. It sounded like someone was yelling through water, muffled and low, distorted. That was funny. She was buried in rock, where was the water coming from?

The voice cleared itself out after a few repetitions. “Challenger, your name!”

Oh. Right. This was a gym challenge. She was in a giant cave to challenge someone using miracle monsters that broke physics.

Her vocal cords rasped together, two pieces of thin sandpaper. “B-brienne Lalonde.”

There was a flash, and something that looked remarkably like a miniature T-Rex appeared across the field.

She had to be hallucinating. That was it. She was close to CO2 poisoning and so she was hallucinating silly things before she died.

Her heart pounded in her ears.

Her hand went to her belt and popped off the first pokéball there. “G-go!”

There was a roar. Flashes of fire and _more rocks falling oh god please get me out of here I’m sorry I’m sorry get me out of here I’m scared._

A high-pitched cry and Dresden fell at her feet, battered.

The world around her spun counter-clockwise. She zapped her beautiful fire fox back into the pokéball.

She felt her breathing get sharper. It was starting to hurt to breathe.

She couldn’t…she couldn’t…who…

Another voice through water.

“I…”

The second pokéball on her belt flashed and Saturn emerged.

She felt like any second that she could lean over and fall off a cliff. That was, again, silly. She was buried alive. No cliffs in a hole.

The rumbling sound of rocks lasted longer this time. Someone was yelling. She couldn’t make out the words. She just wanted the rumbling to stop. She wanted sunlight again.

_Helphelphelphelphelp I need air get me out of here!_

Saturn skidded to a stop at her feet and collapsed.

She stared.

She couldn’t…where….what?

She leaned forward to touch her Bulbasaur. Her knees hit the ground.

Everything went dark.

_Oh, this is it. All right._

She let go.

~*~

There was air blowing past her cheeks and sunlight in her face.

She sucked in a breath through her nose, greedily. She was lying down, on her back. Last she remembered was entering the cave. There were soft sheets under her hands and indistinct, quiet voices not far from her.

Where was she?

She opened her eyes, and promptly hissed in pain as the light from the window stung. She raised her hand and turned her head away, blinking fast as she sat up.

“Hey,” Calem’s voice came from opposite her. There was the sound of a chair being dragged and then placed.

“What…where am I?” Brienne squinted at him, hand shading her face.

“Cyllage City Pokémon Center.” His face was pale, and his lower lip looked raw. He sucked a corner of his lip in as she watched.

“Why?” This made absolutely no sense. She’d been just outside!

“…You don’t remember?” He paled more, his eyes going wide. “You collapsed at the end of your gym battle with Grant. Then again, I wouldn’t call it a battle.”

“What.” Why did she have a lump in her throat? Why was her heart racing?

Calem carried on. “You called out Dresden…and then once he was knocked out you called out Saturn. You passed out not long after Saturn did.”

Small, tiny flashes came back to her. A mini T-Rex. Fire. Shouting. Rocks everywhere. Rumbling. Saturn at her feet.

She felt the blood drain from her face in embarrassment and shame. “Oh.”

“What _happened?_ ” Calem leaned forward. “You were fine in Glittering Cave.”

She swallowed. “…I panicked.” Her voice sounded strangled, scratched, dry. There was pressure behind her eyes. Oh god.

“That was panic?” Her friend asked, gobsmacked.

She winced and shrunk away. _“I told you, I don’t do caves!”_ She snarled, arms coming up to wrap around her middle.

Brienne glared at him, suddenly angry, and lucky for her there was a convenient scapegoat right in front of her. “I _told_ you!” She shook where she sat. “You utter _ass._ Get out of my sight!”

Calem swayed backwards, shocked, before slipping silently out of his seat and leaving the room.

She sat, teeth bared, air pushed hard in and out of her nose in fear covered by rage, and watched him leave, eyes locked on the doorway long after he was gone.

She shuddered, as time passed and the rage shattered and fell away, and the memories of what happened came back stronger. Fear and guilt curled around her spine and crept into her stomach and made her sick.

“Oh god…” A whine built itself up in her throat. “I am shit. I just stood there and let them get battered while I whined about _being in a cave. A perfectly safe cave._ ”

Her right hand curled around her left wrist and squeezed until it hurt. She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her forehead on top of them, eyes shut tight.

A small amount of time passed.

There was a knock on the doorframe.

“…I _told_ you to get out of my sight, Calem.”

Someone cleared their throat. “I was told to wait a bit before coming to see you. Is this still a bad time?”

Brienne blanched. That wasn’t Calem. “Oh! Uh…No, I guess. Come on in.”

She watched her visitor. Tall and lanky, with darkly colored caramel skill and tight, long cornrow braids tied up in a knot at the back of his head and held back with shiny gemstone pins. Gray eyes peered down worriedly.

“Um…hi?” She said, sheepish.

He smiled, and sat down in the same chair Calem had left behind. “Hi. I’m Grant.” He offered his hand to Brienne to shake. “I’m sorry about what happened in the gym.”

She took it and just as quickly let go. She’d already blown her first impression. “Not your fault. You don’t need to apologize.”

He sighed. “I brought your Pokémon with me, and had them healed while you recovered.” He popped two pokéballs off his belt and handed them to her, a small smile on his face.

“Oh, I didn’t know…I, uh, haven’t had chance to take stock yet.” She blushed, and considered hiding her face in her knees again. It was an appealing option. The two pokéballs sat cradled in her lap.

“It’s all right. You’re allowed a bit of catch-up. I came to make sure you were all right. It was quite a shock to see a challenger pass out on my arena floor.” He chuckled.

“I’m sorry. That never should have happened.” She choked out, fists clenched.

“Now it’s me saying you have no need to apologize. You were pushing your limits and trying to surmount a personal wall. Ah, Calem told me the reason behind what happened. I am very impressed.”

She stared. _What?_

“Also, we gym leaders _can_ make adjustments to our secondary challenges. I have a rock wall that’s outside, and it does not matter where the battle takes place, as long as it happens with an official referee.” He gave her a comforting smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I would love it if you tried again, Brienne.”

She shuddered, and really did bury her face this time.

Oh god, why was he being so _kind?_ She was pathetic! It was a stupid little fear and she let it _get the best of her._ She fainted in public, for crying out loud!

“I…I need a little time.” She muttered, just loud enough to be heard past her knees.

Grant nodded. “Of course. Take some time, train with your Pokémon some more, and come back and challenge me again. Send a message, and I will happily battle you outside, Brienne.”

There were footsteps, and then silence again.

Her heart hurt. She _hated_ this.

~*~

It hadn’t been long after Grant left that she’d taken her two newly-healed Pokémon and dashed for the biggest open space she could find. In this situation, it was the beach just outside the borders of Cyllage City.

No more roofs over her head. No more walls. Right now all she wanted was wide, open spaces where she could never, ever get trapped. Always a way out, always air. Always light, one way or another.

She wandered until she found a private little corner, snarling at any opportunistic trainer that came her way. The idea of battling could go fuck itself right now. She wanted to be left _alone._

The sand was warm; she felt when she dropped inelegantly on her butt. Grains spilled through her fingers as she picked up handfuls and let it fall. How odd, that she thought that her throat was coated with the stuff when she’d been nowhere near it.

 She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was starting to get long again, the edges tickling her shoulder blades. She needed a cut.

Brienne brought up both pokéballs and released Dresden and Saturn at the same time. The Braixen and Bulbasaur looked around, confused, before zeroing in on their trainer.

“Bulba?” The small grass-type tilted his head, unsure of why his trainer looked the way she did.

She only got a wave of curiosity from Dresden.

“Oh, loves…” Her voice trailed away into a whine and she fought to keep from crying. “I am so, so sorry. I messed up so bad and you guys got beat on for it.”

She opened her arms and they both snuggled in for a hug, Brienne burying her face in the fluffiness of Dresden’s fur.

Saturn, after a moment, pulled back and shook his head. “Bulba! Ba-saur! Bulbasauur!” He stood and dug his claws into the sand, looking aggressive.

Dresden nodded along, arms folded and stance bold.

“I…you don’t want me to apologize?” She stared at them both, nibbling her lower lip.

Saturn nodded enthusiastically, opened his mouth to say something, then turned to Dresden and huffed, stomping his front left foot.

Dresden trilled and cupped Brienne’s face, his tiny, tiny thumbs stroking in small circles. He bobbed his head until her gaze was even with his, and trilled again, higher, happier.

Brienne shuddered as she felt wave after wave of emotion; protectiveness, determination, the joy of battle.

“You’re completely willing to take hits like that for me. Why?”

Dresden rolled his eyes and bopped her lightly on the forehead, before tackling her in what could be considered a glomp.  

She squeaked and tilted back, surprised at the sudden weight. She fell over when Saturn joined the pile, sand warm and giving under her back.

“Okay. I get it. But I’m never gonna let it be that bad ever again, all right? That mess up was completely my fault, and I’ve got to make up for them.

There were twinned resigned huffs from her Pokémon.

~*~

She still wasn’t ready to go back to the Pokémon Center. It was well into late afternoon, the sun getting ever closer to the horizon edge of the ocean, sending licks of fire-orange and gunmetal gray onto the surface. She simply wandered, trying not to think of what exactly she was going to do.

She didn’t want to ask for a battle outside. Every other trainer had their battle _in that gym_ , and damn it if she wasn’t going to either. _Calem_ had his battle in that gym. Like hell she was going to let him get ahead of her that easily.

_Fucking hell._ She should be embarrassed to be called a trainer! She should be so ashamed that the gym leader even had to _offer_ her another option to get the badge. What the fuck was her problem?

She snarled at the air and picked up a handful of wet sand, hurling it into the ocean waves as hard as she could. It fell in with a dull plop and the surprised splash of a water-type.

Fuck her stupid, idiotic, irrational fear!

There was a gentle click, and Gl’bgolyb bobbed gently on the air, supported by its psychics. She trilled and chirped, floating herself up to eye level.

Brienne raised an eyebrow. “Bored?”

She simply clicked her tiny beak.

“Okaaaaay…” She sighed and kept walking.

A moment passed before she stopped, spun on her heel, and faced her Inkay. “Come here. I’ve not really acquainted myself with you yet, and that’s my fault.” She reached up to gently rub the cap on her floating cuttlefish.

The Pokémon cooed and closed her eyes, pushing up into the touch.

“You like that, huh? Cool.” Brienne smiled sadly. “I wish it was that easy to fix all my problems. Just a little scratch on the head and bam, problem solved.”

Inkay trilled, long and loudly, the lights on her cap lighting up.

Brienne froze. “Glubby, what are you doing?” Last time this happened, she’d been left on the edge of a cliff. Not exactly the best way to meet your new Pokémon.

Glubby let out another trill. Yes, the lights were hard to ignore, but Brienne didn’t feel sleepy, or that she was losing control. Maybe she just wanted to light up because she could?

Right. Okay. Fine.

She clenched her fists hard enough she felt the nails dig into her palms. The pain was welcome. She had to go back into that cave, and fuck her fear. Fuck _her._ She couldn’t let this slow her down at all.

There was acid bubbling up from the pit of her stomach and it coiled in her throat. It made her want to scream and tear something apart. Preferably herself. Her skin crawled and made her roll her shoulders to get rid of the horrible feeling.

She was going to go into that cave tomorrow and get that gym badge, and fuck her stupid, shitty, ridiculous little _nervous tick_.

_She had three Pokémon who knew grass-type attacks, for fuck’s sake!_ That battle should have been nothing but a win!

She’d stand up there and announce herself and it was the last thing Grant would see before he got his Pokémon handed right back to him on a silver platter.

There was no other fucking option for her.

_This never should have happened._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! You made it to the end of the chapter! Awesome!  
> I would like to remind you that there IS a blog that compliments this story, found at: www.ask-eotb.tumblr.com  
> I am currently running an RP story with a very good Looker indie blog. Check out the threads, and check out their blog, their Looker is adorable and very cuddly.   
> I take asks from any and all comers, and will happily answer In-Character!  
> Thank you and goodnight! XD


	13. "By Any Means Necessary."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brienne vs. Grant, Round Two!
> 
> There's more to this world than it seems, and you can't let it get away from you. Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> April Fools!
> 
> Bet you didn't think I'd be coming up with a chapter this fast! Yeah, well, I had half of this written before my vacation, and the rest wrote itself.  
> I played with a font change for a specific character's speech mid-chapter. If you have a hard time reading it, let me know and I will happily tell you what they say in the comments.  
> Enjoy the chapter!

Brienne’s dreams that night were filled with the sound of rocks smashing against each other and the earth itself roaring as it readjusted its outer skin. Glowing lights always floated at the edge of her vision, but she could never catch the source. She screamed and snarled at herself, the sound echoing as a banshee’s screech as her fear snaked itself around her lungs and spine.

She did not sleep well.

~*~

The old analog alarm clock clicked over to one in the afternoon when Brienne dragged herself from underneath the covers, bags under her eyes and aches deep in her joints.

Last night had been hard; with a pattern of falling asleep and waking up disgusted with herself as tears slid across her face. It’d gotten to the point where she refused to fall asleep and buried herself under the covers, simply dozing. 

Her head pounded dully and somehow the bright light of the sun turned physically sharp, forcing her to walk with her eyes nearly squinted shut.

She forewent her morning dose of coffee.

She spotted Calem on the way to the gym, slipping out of the boutique with a small bag that hung off his wrist.

“Calem, wait!” She shuffled as quickly as she could up to her friend, well aware that could change in the next few minutes.

He stopped, but refused to turn around to face her, shoulders straight and stiff. “Lalonde. I thought you didn’t want to see me.” The words were just as cold as she deserved and they brought on a sting like wind from deep mid-winter.

“I shouldn’t have said that. I was upset and I covered it with anger.” She ran her hands over her face and into her hair, tugging at the ends. “I’m sorry. I was out of line.” She was completely at fault here.

“I know you were simply worried about me. My lashing out at you was wrong.” Her words ran into his back. Beyond the line of his shoulders, she couldn’t tell what he was feeling.

Seconds passed. The anxiety in her stomach grew worse with each one.

“You’re right.” He turned around, face blank. “I didn’t deserve that.” His eyes were harsh.

“What do you want me to do? Just saying sorry isn’t going to fix it, I don’t think.” Her hands were down by her sides at this point, palms open towards him.

Calem frowned in a one-sided grimace. “There’s nothing you can do. Leave it.”

Brienne opened her mouth to debate, caught his glare, and on a second thought closed it.

She nodded. “All right. I’m giving the gym a second try. Heading over now. You’re welcome to watch.” She shrugged and walked off, heart in her shoes, towards the one place she really did not want to be.

~*~

She glared at the Gym League emblem that hung over the entrance to the cave. She could already feel her heart pounding in her throat and she didn’t even want to _walk_ into the gym, let alone scramble up a rock wall and battle a bunch of rock-types. 

 _Rock Tomb_ was Grant’s signature move. That did not exactly inspire hope.

She spun on her heel and paced a line in front of the entrance, fists clenched. How the hell was she going to get in there and actually stay cognizant of what was going on?

It’s not like she could walk into this gym with Dresden practically snuggling her and controlling her own ring of fire.

She blinked, and her trip to Glittering Cave smashed into the forefront of her mind.

Her hand had never moved so fast to her pokéballs.

 _“Gl’bgolyb.”_ She snarled; face inches away from the tiny floating cuttlefish. _“What did you do?”_

The Inkay floated serenely in front of its trainer, unbothered by the sheer anger directed at it. “Innnkay!”

“That’s not an answer and I _know_ you understand me. I was absolutely _fine_ in Glittering Cave and _you were the only Pokémon out._ What did you do?”

“O͞h ͏yo̵u͜ p͠oo͟r, ̡s͏c̷are̡d҉ chi̴l͜d.̴ ̧Hee͏ ̕hee͢…̶Sc͝ar̛e̷d ch͜ìl͜d,̷ ̷lonely ćh͡ild.̵ Lǫnel̷y ͞c̷hi̶l̛d, ͏a͜fraíd҉ ̶o̶f̛ the̕ ͏éar͢t̛h ̕she͜’l̴l̀ retu҉rn t͢o…”

The psychic voice enveloped Brienne’s mind like a roiling, thick fog, the kind that people walked into and never walked back out of—old mists that will-o-the-wisps grew in. Her anger was swamped by the ancient, heavy weight of the psi, and for a moment she thought she saw condensation puff out of her mouth.

The Inkay herself blinked calmly and landed on her trainer’s head, the fog settling down to the base of Brienne’s skull, a mired pool of intangible weight.

“What.” Glubby seemed to want to become a very strange hat. The two arm-like tentacles fell just in front of her ears, and the smaller ones that sat under her cap tickled Brienne’s eyebrows, the Pokémon’s weight warmer than she thought it would be.  

She could already feel her heartrate slowing down. She had _no_ idea as to what the Inkay was doing, but whatever the hell it was, it worked.

She glanced at the Gym League emblem again.

_Like HELL would she let this stop her._

She vanished into the cave with her head—and Inkay—held high.

~*~

 She didn’t need to climb the rock wall a second time. That was a one-time requirement.

The stairs were longer than she’d thought they’d be. She ignored the weird looks from the local trainers that specialized in rock-types as she worked her way up, disregarding the growing weight on her neck from her Inkay-hat.

The cave-gym was very well lit, but that simply meant it was easier to see the solid rock walls. The sight of the cave walls stopped the claustrophobic girl in her tracks, and for a moment she felt sand and tiny rock particles coating her throat again, before Glubby chirped cutely and a wave of cold swept through her, refocusing her beyond the fear.

Grant started when he saw an Inkay pop above the edge of the stairs, followed by Brienne, but quickly enough a wide grin spread on his face.

“Look at this! Brienne, you’re conquering all sorts of walls. I am very impressed!” He came to meet her at the top of the stairs. “Though, the new headgear is certainly a fashion statement.”

She shrugged, and shook the hand he offered to her. “She wanted to sit there.”

Her response was short, clipped, and to the point. Just because she wasn’t hyperventilating, didn’t mean she _liked_ being in this cave.

Grant nodded. “That’s fine, as long as she doesn’t interfere with battle.” He motioned to the Challenger’s box, already heading towards his own. “Ready whenever you are. I hope your Pokémon are just as impressive as your determination to move forward is.”

Brienne grinned, mentally grimacing, her eyes turning to steel. “Just you watch.”

There was another set of feet coming up the stairs, the solid thunk of boots hitting metal grate echoing up to the top.

Grant shouted from his end of the field. “Your name, Challenger!”

Right. Tradition. “Brienne Lalonde, from Vaniville Town! I challenge Leader Grant of Cyllage City for a badge!”

The heat working its way up her stomach was _all_ anger. She wasn’t going to give this guy an inch. Her nails bit into her palm, as her right hand selected the second ‘ball off her belt.

“This will be a two-on-two battle, with only the challenger allowed substitutions!” Grant stated, the referee nodding along. “Go, Amaura!”

Time to kick some ass. “Go, Dirk! We’re doing this!”

 _“Hell yeah, let’s go.”_ He peeked over his shoulder. _“Why is Glubby on your head?”_ His tone of voice was not pleased.

“Later, Dirk. Battle now.” The Amaura on the other side of the field reared up. “Double team!”

Dirk blurred into multiple copies of himself all over the arena, quickly surrounding the much slower ice and rock type.

“Thunder wave!” The electric attack struck in multiple directions, phasing through most of Dirk’s copies and into Dirk himself, mildly paralyzing his muscles, who then stumbled and slowed enough to make the last copies fail.

He was well within contact range now. “Dirk, magical leaf and back off!”

Grant smirked. “Rock tomb!”

The arena rumbled as the little blue brontosaurus made the piles of loose rocks surrounding the arena floor rise into the air and rush towards the Kirlia.

“Don’t stay in one spot!” Brienne yelled, eyes locked on her psychic.

The psychically created leaves and rocks collided in mid-air, blasting each other into dust. Both Pokémon vanished into the cloud.

The phantom pain she felt in her back and shoulders told her at least some of the rocks were hitting Dirk. “Keep moving!”

The cry she heard from Grant’s Amaura told her the magical leaf got through and was doing damage. Awesome.

“We can do this! Keep up the speed and the magical leaf!” She felt herself crouching slightly, eyes targeted on where she just _knew_ Dirk was, even though she couldn’t quite see him through the cloud of dust that hadn’t cleared out.

Grant’s Amaura trumpeted again and stomped through the arena as the dust settled, raising rocks and chucking them at the much faster Kirlia. “Take down!”

 _Whooooo boy._ “Don’t let it make contact! Hit it with confusion!”

The pink attack arrowed into Amaura, dazing it hard and making it miss Dirk and slam into a particularly large boulder instead. It took a few seconds for it to peel its face away from the rock.

“Have got to slow that Kirlia down.” Grant frowned. “Ice beam!”

If this wasn’t a battle, Brienne would have enjoyed listening to the blue dinosaur. Amaura’s call reached a high pitch and its sails turned bright red as it fired off one searing cold beam after another.

Dirk dodged most of the ice, occasionally getting clipped on the ankles and side. The field was quickly getting covered in a layer of glacial ice.

She shivered hard and rubbed her sides. “I know it hurts, Dirk, but we’re close!” She grit her teeth.

_ “I know! Just a few more hits and it’ll be down.” _

Brienne scanned the field, taking in the ice-covered, rock-speckled field. “You’ve got to skate, Dirk! Bounce off the rocks!”

 _“Oh, I get it. Oh, hell yeah!”_ The mental smirk was all she needed.

The Kirlia pushed off the last little bit of uncovered field he had, zooming hard towards the ice. He made contact, braced his knees, and slid across the ice like a speed skater. Using his psychics, he cushioned his contact with bigger rocks and slalomed off in another direction.

“Whoa! Nice! Amaura, thunder wave one more time!” Grant smiled and pointed at his opponent. “Slow it down and then use rock tomb one more time!”

“Dirk, magical leaf at the nearest rock and ground yourself! Speed off a-sap!”

The thunder wave pulsed out, crackling in the air. Dirk purposefully slammed into the next rock, and shaped his attack like icepicks, jamming them straight into the ground with a loud _crack._ He pressed himself to the boulder and the electric attack flowed over him and into the ground, leaving him unharmed.

“Go, now! Move!”

_ “Finishing this now. I can feel it.” _

Dirk _shot_ across the arena floor, bouncing off rocks or using smaller ones to push himself forward, eyes glowing pink.

“Finish it! Magical leaf and then confusion!”

Dirk pushed off the ground and leapt high into the air, spinning off psi-covered leaves like shuriken, the confusion attack charging as his eyes and horns began to glow brightly.

The Amaura trilled, surprised at its opponent all of a sudden being _in the air._

“Strike!” The psychic attack blasted into the Amaura’s head and knocked it over. Dirk landed next to his opponent, both hands together as he formed the magical leaves in his favorite shape, a katana.

 _“Do I take it out?”_ His head tilted to the side.

“Hold, Dirk.” Both trainers watched the blue dinosaur twitch slightly before it cried out and went limp.

The referee nodded. “Amaura is unable to battle. Round one to Kirlia…ah, Dirk?”

Brienne nodded and grinned. “Good job, Dirk! Come back!”

First battle, won. Now to get the second one.

She sank down on her knees as Dirk stumbled his way back to his trainer’s side of the arena.

 _“I was fucking awesome, wasn’t I?”_ Dirk’s grin was just as wide as her own.

“You were fucking fantastic, Dirk.” She kissed his head, just between his horns.

He sighed happily and leaned into the hug.

She rubbed his back—gently, there were some serious bruises forming there—and then zapped him back into his pokéball. “I’ll get you healed soon, hon.”

She stood. “Ready for round two?”

Grant was staring at the pokéball in his hand, the Amaura nowhere to be seen. “That was a good first battle, Brienne. I admit to being caught by surprise at some of your tactics! But I’m not going to let you off easy.”

He shrank the pokéball in his hand and returned it to the belt at his waist, popping off another. “Go, Tyrunt!”

There was the miniature T-Rex she remembered from last time. “Huh. Well then.”

She reached for the fourth pokéball on her belt, but Gl’bgolyb floated off her head and onto the field before she could release Saturn.

“Glubby, what, no, _get your tentacled butt back here!_ ” There was an extra-strong wave of cold that went down her spine, actively making her shiver.

The fear hadn’t come back. Whatever Glubby was doing was still working.

She swallowed and glared at the mischievous Pokémon, who was content to float and trill over the arena floor.

Grant raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but that counts as an entry onto the field. Are you ready?”

Brienne sighed and nodded.

“Good!” Grant pointed at the cuttlefish. “Bite!”

The Tyrunt wagged its tail like a puppy and stomped into a run, mouth open wide.

If she ever saw her dad again she was never going to laugh at one of his ‘my arms are too short’ T-Rex jokes _ever again._ That did not matter when you had a mouth full of horribly razor sharp teeth happily coming at you.

Glubby simply cooed and floated up and out of its biting range, lights on her body starting to glow.

Brienne blinked. “Hypnosis?”

“A̸aa͜aa͏ah y̶es.̶.͟.” Glubby sighed in Brienne’s mind and the lights on her grew LED bright. She bobbed in front of the Tyrunt’s face, and its eyes followed her for every bounce.

“Tyrunt, look away!”

"Ņo̷,̸ ̀t͢oo ̢la̷t̡e ĺittl͝e ̨d̛r̴a͜gon k̀in̵g,̶ ͝t̡o̶o ̕l͞a͡te!͡" Glubby giggled, her longer arms coming over to cover her beak.

The mini T-Rex keeled over, snoring.

Both trainers stared at the sleeping lizard.

“Get up, Tyrunt!” Grant yelled.

Tyrunt kept snoring.

“Hit it while it’s down! Psywave!” The Inkay spun in a vertical circle and blasted multi-hued pink light at the out-cold dragon. The force from the attack caused it to skid back a couple feet, and Brienne winced, but it kept snoozing.

At this point Grant was shouting as loudly as he could in an attempt to wake up his Pokémon. It snuffled slightly and turned over to its other side, but kept on sleeping.

Brienne _stared._ “Hit it again.”

Glubby gleefully did so, the attack hitting much harder this time.

The Tyrunt yelped and woke up, stumbling back and dropping to one knee for a moment as it got its bearings. The last attack had done a _lot_ of point blank damage to the little dragon and it was showing.

Grant frowned. “Hit it hard. Rock tomb!”

Rocks once again began to crash down from the sky.

Brienne could not believe her eyes as her Inkay bobbed and weaved through the falling rain of stones, completely unperturbed.

The Tyrunt was growling, frustrated.

Brienne wanted _out of this cave._ “Finish this, Gl’bgolyb! Foul play!”

"͠Fin͟al͠l̴y!̷"͢Glubby wreathed herself in purple flames and shot at the tiny dinosaur, a violet meteor, and slammed into its knees, picking it up off the ground and slamming it onto its back, _hard._

The Tyrunt whined and did not move to get back up.

That was it for the referee. “Tyrunt is unwilling to battle. Inkay wins the battle. Brienne Lalonde wins the match!”

Sheer relief shot through her. She was _done with this cave._

The sound of clapping caught her attention. Calem stood at the top of the stairs, back against the railing, softly applauding his fellow trainer. He nodded once when he caught her eye, and headed back downstairs.

She blinked. Huh.

Glubby came floating back to her trainer. “Good job, hon. Glad I decided to keep you. I was kind of unsure, at first.”

The cuttlefish dropped back down on Brienne’s head. "̷͜Ha͏s̶t̢y̢̧͝, ̴̵́h̶͞͡as̛͢t̕͡y̕͟,̶ ̀s̴̴͠o q҉́͝ų͘͜i҉̷́c̷̀͝k ͢y͞o͞u̵͜ ̨ą̷̛r̢e҉.̸̨͟ ̶͞So͞ ̶̵͜mù̶͡c̶h́͘ yo̴͞u̢͠ ̸͟d̷̕͝òn̢̛͡'͠͞t̨̧ ̴͝k̨ņ̸ow.̵͘"

She shuddered involuntarily at the voice. Was it stronger?

Grant met her at the center of the arena. “Very good, Brienne. You’ve surmounted quite a few walls in a very short amount of time. I’ll be keeping an eye on your progress.” He handed her the small brown badge, and slipped a check out of his back pocket and held it out to her. “Have you been to the Battle Chateau on route seven? I am there occasionally, and would greatly appreciate a rematch one day.” He smiled at her.

“Yeah, I have. I’d think I’d like that, Grant. Thank you.”

_Time to get the hell out of dodge._

~*~

Calem met her at the entrance to the cave-gym.

“Good.”

She quirked an eyebrow, simply watching.

“I don’t know how you got over your fear so quickly, but good.” He sighed. “I’ll see you in Shalour City. Don’t make me wait too long, Lalonde. Work those short legs of yours.”

She snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Later, Remont…Thanks.”

He gave her a ghost of a smile and turned away, letting his skates do most of the work down the hill.

She slumped against the cliff face, and stared at the sky.

One more cave, and she was still alive.

Still here.

~*~

Brienne remained in Cyllage City for two more days, as a reward to both her Pokémon and herself. All her Pokémon appreciated the chance to rough-house on the beach—though Dresden more-or-less spent his time making sandcastles—and there were a few shops that had caught the eye of their trainer, not that she was going to buy—much—of anything.

Okay, so there were some appealing tops in that boutique. And there was a bookstore. And was that a _music_ shop? Oh, she just had to get in there…

Another two days were spent in Cyllage City.

The map indicated that Geosenge Town, the next destination on the indicated route for trainers taking the Kalos League challenge, was a solid day and a half of walking. Advice from a few of the locals of Cyllage City said to plan for two days, if not a little more, simply because of the amount of trainers that spent their time on the northern half of the route.  One or two ex-trainers, now building a quiet life in Cyllage City itself, said to take time to explore around the stones that appeared on the route. Pokémon hid around them and items were often dropped off by those who had too much of something or wanted to leave something nice behind for the next person to find it—after a quick battle.

The first half of the Menhir trail was easy enough. It went north, and then angled west, gently echoing the direction of the shoreline before turning north once again. The return of grass for as long as the eye could see was a welcome one to Brienne, who had grown tired of being sandwiched between cliffs, caves, and sand.

She was done with caves, thank you very much.

Half a day into her brisk hiking, small stones began to appear in ordered rows, no taller than two feet. Grass grew in thick abundance around the purposefully placed stones, popping up in thick tufts and spreading outwards in a soft, green carpet. The breeze was soft and gentle off the coast, and the sky was clear and bright blue.  

An hour after the first sighting, Brienne’s temples began to gently pound in time with her heartbeat. A hand occasionally came to rub at her forehead, but she continued on.

 ** _“We should turn around.”_**  Kanaya popped out of her pokéball and immediately winced, tiny hands falling to the base of her horns and massaging. **_“This place hurts.”_**

“Headache?” Brienne winced in sympathy, kneeling and wrapping her arms around her Kirlia.

 ** _“Big one.”_** Kanaya tucked her face into the crook of her trainer’s neck and sighed, leaning against her. The warm care and concern felt like a heating pad against her mind. It was glorious.

“Is it better or worse in your pokéball?” Rearranging her arms, Brienne picked her Pokémon off the ground and stood, and began to walk just a little faster.

 ** _“Better. Some. Senses are…dulled in there, unless we’re actively paying attention. Both Dirk and Dresden are meditating.”_** Tiny green arms came to wrap around her mother’s neck in a return hug.

“And you came out to tell me.” She pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you, love. Now, I want you to go back into your pokéball and meditate like your brother, okay?”

 ** _“But, mom, what if you get into trouble?”_** Bright red eyes met hazel green. **_“I don’t care if I have a headache.”_**

“I can take care of myself, and if I need help I have Saturn. He could use the training, anyway.” Another kiss to the forehead.

Kanaya frowned. **_“I don’t like it.”_**

“I know.” She sighed. “But you’re hurting, and the only way to go is forward. If we backtracked, we’d have to go all the way back to Lumiose City, out the blocked off North Boulevard, through the badlands to Courmarine, _then_ Shalour City, and Geosenge, just to do it all again in the other direction.”

She snuggled her concerned Pokémon, squeezing gently. “I promise, I’ll be as fast as I can, and we’ll be in Geosenge before lunch, and we can get Nurse Joy to look at the lot of you. If it’s the area, I’ll ask about faster transportation.”

 ** _“Mmmmnhh.”_** Kanaya made a disgruntled face.

“Back in your pokéball, loveling, please. I’ll be okay. Swear it.”

The Kirlia slumped, before reaching down and tapping her pokéball. She vanished in a flash of gentle red.

 ** _“Be careful, mom. Saturn, I swear, if anything goes wrong I will use you in target practice.”_** The Kirlia’s mental ‘voice’ came weakly from her pokéball.

Brienne snorted and picked up her pace.

By the time the stones had gained another five feet in height, Brienne had a blossoming headache and was camping down for the night, back against one of the stones themselves for a little extra security.

~*~

Her sleep was restless and very light. She woke every time a nocturnal bird or Pokémon cried too loud, her head slowly pounding harder and harder. There was about an hour of time where she couldn't get to sleep at  _all_ , kept up by a cacophony of 'vee, eevee!' and little barks and trills not far from where she had bunked down.

When the sun finally crept over the horizon, the girl crawled out from under her blanket, eyes clamped shut to keep the light from aggravating her absolutely fantastic migraine.

She’d made really, really good time the night before; Geosenge was only five miles away. But those five miles felt like an eternity right now.

 _‘Oh god, I think I’m going to puke.’_ She groaned and curled into a ball, head on her knees as she tried to keep her stomach from its rebellion.

Five miles. She could make five miles easy. She’d been doing it for the last month, after all. Five miles was _nothing._

When her stomach calmed enough for her to think of existence in another shape beyond ‘moaning lump,’ she slowly stood and released Saturn.

“Saturn, hon,” She swallowed down a sour taste in the back of her throat. “I feel like crap. I’m really gonna…” She put a hand to her forehead. “Need ya today.”

“Saaaauuuurrr…” The little grass-type rumbled quietly, a vine coming up to tap his trainer on the cheek.

She took a deep breath and held the vine against her cheek for a moment. “I can do this. Let’s clean camp and go.”

“Ba-saur.” Saturn nodded determinedly and got to work, moving much faster than his trainer could and worried about her the whole time.

~*~

Geosenge was maybe a mile and a half away. She’d begged mercy from many trainers, saying her team was mostly out of commission at this point and she nearly was as well.

The world was starting to spin counter-clockwise, and Saturn had gently wrapped a vine around her wrist a while ago to make sure she didn’t lean too far in any one direction as she walked.

For those trainers who didn’t want to let her past, regardless of her Pokémon’s condition or hers, well, Saturn was proving himself truly capable of taking down other Pokémon.

She could barely see her feet at this point as she walked. _‘Just a little further to the Pokémon Center.’_

There was a shout. She never heard it, and Saturn had to tug on her wrist to get her to stop walking.

She peered up enough to get an eyeful of painful, _painful_ orange and groaned, summoning up whatever energy she had left to take this person down. She’d come up against two others wearing similar outfits, and they were loud, annoying, and vaguely cruel. Whoever recruited for Team Flare certainly had a specific profile they were looking for.

“You again!” The snarl this time was particularly angry. “I battled you in Glittering Cave! Not looking so hot now, are you?” He laughed. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

“Go on, Saturn. I trust you to be badass.” She hummed and patted the vine on her wrist.

“Saur!” The saurian stomped into the space between the two.

“And I bet you don’t even know what these stones are for.” The Flare grunt pulled out a pokéball. “Three-thousand years ago, these stones…” He snorted and trailed off. “Like I should tell the likes of you.”

 _That_ pricked Brienne’s pride just a bit. “Likes of me?” She raised her head all the way. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The grunt tossed his pokéball, revealing a Croagunk. “Look at you. Dirty clothes, horrible style, and you can barely pick your head up off your chest. Once Team Flare succeeds, people like you won’t be _around_ anymore.” He pointed at Saturn. “Poison jab!”

A wave of dizziness hit Brienne, and she leaned against a nearby standing stone, eyes locked on the battle.

The migraine got stronger, and she gagged.

She closed her eyes for a moment, just to concentrate on breathing.

When she opened them again, she was treated to the sight of a dimming Saturn, who had grown to twice his original size, and his bulb had turned into an opening bloom, fern-like leaves framing the outside.

“Oh, good job, Saturn!” She mumbled, smile on her face.

The Croagunk was quickly taken care of by that point.

The Flare grunt snarled. “I’ve been training since I’ve last seen you! Go, Houndour!” The fire and dark canine appeared and howled, baring its teeth at the mainly _grass_ and poison type.

“Saturn, careful!” She sank to her knees, her head resting on the cool stone. How did it feel so cool when the sun was out in full force?

Taking a nap felt like a really good idea right now.

That was a fantastic idea.

Just as soon as the battle was…

“Ivysaaauuur!”

~*~

Brienne was in trouble, he was facing a fire-type, and he was kind of tired himself. This was a wonderful situation. Saturn growled back and fluffed himself up to look bigger. These idiots in red-orange-eye-catching color had been popping up all day and it was getting _exhausting._ They weren’t even good trainers for their Pokémon!

He had sleep powder, so if he could just get that damn dog to stay still long enough to take a nap, he might win this…

He snapped his whips at the canine, distracting it from the fact that his trainer had just fallen over in a dead faint. That’s right, pay attention to the fire-bait over here, not his out-cold trainer….

Oh he was so over his head.

There was a _thump_ and a deep, ground-shaking rumble behind him.

The idiot human froze, his eyes wide behind yellow shades. Even the Houndour stopped in his tracks, jaw on the ground, eyes locked on whatever it was behind him.

Saturn swallowed and slowly turned around.

…His hopes soared. There was a _Venusaur_ behind him, his trainer just behind him and off to the side.

Saturn _blinked_ as his eyes landed on the Venusaur’s trainer. He was seeing things. He had to be. He didn’t _remember_ getting fried by the Houndour, so….what was going on?

The girl in all purple glared at the Flare grunt. “Get. Lost.” Her hood was low enough Saturn couldn’t make out most of her face, but he knew that scent _very_ well, thank you very much. And the voice was the same, mostly.

The grunt tried to reclaim some of his lost bravado. “Why should I? Last I checked, grass was weak against fire, and Venusaur is still a grass type.”

There was an audible snarl. “Charge solar beam.” Light began to gather at the center of the Venusaur’s flower.

There was a quiet pause to let it sink in. “I don’t care. A solar beam will _still_ blow you _and_ your Houndour away. I suggest you run now, before you need a hospital for broken bones.”

The grunt gulped, returned his Houndour, and ran for it.

Saturn couldn’t help it. He snickered.

The girl in all-purple sighed and patted the Venusaur. “Good job, hon. You can release it, now.”

The Venusaur rumbled good-naturedly and motes of light floated off into the surrounding area. Saturn could hear local grass-types cheering in surprise as they got a sudden energy boost.

Energy boost. Oh crap. His trainer. He galloped over and nearly ran into her, shoving his face near hers. He nudged her.

Nothing. Completely out cold. Not good at all. Dread built up around his spine and the base of his bulb.

Footsteps approached. Saturn spun a one-eighty and growled at the incoming figure. Questions aside, his trainer needed help and he didn’t know who this was.

The figure crouched, one hand held out. “Hey, Saturn. Yeah, I know. This is confusing. Take a whiff.”

He could smell her fine. ‘Saur lines had great noses. He glared.

“All right. Look. It’s confusing. But I’m here to help. Specifically, right now, to carry _her_ to safety. You gonna let me help?”

He sighed, and backed away from the still form of his trainer.

“Thank you.” She turned back to the Venusaur and nodded, returning him. “Right. Let’s get you two to Geosenge. Damn this is surreal.”

The figure in purple leaned over, slipped her arms around Brienne, and with a grunt, picked her up.

Saturn followed at her feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I wish to advertise www.ask-eotb.tumblr.com and www.looking-through-time.tumblr.com/ The first link is the site of this fic's blog. Ask me anything! Second link is the blog to a very special Looker RPer that is helping me more than ever to build Brienne's life and back story! She (And the Looker Network she's a part of) deserve all the follows. XD Or at least reblogs! Lots of reblogs. Trust me, you'll never be bored. I'm not.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below!


	14. Tickle Me To The Bone With A Tablespoon of Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brienne recovers from her trip on the Menhir Trail, and gets the (second) biggest surprise of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!  
> Welcome to the unexpectedly early chapter fourteen! Don't expect this to happen all the time. I didn't even expect this to happen. Also, this chapter is mathematically twice the size of normal chapters. I usually post about 5k an update. This thing? On the order of 10k.   
> I have to give massive, massive amounts of credit to HakureiRyuu. She's been my soundboard, my beta, my support, and my very first fan ever since I came up with the idea for this story. I would not be writing this without her. And now, she's helped me write monstrous amounts of text for this story. There are a good few portions of this chapter that are all her. (So if you notice a mild change in style in places, that's why.)  
> 'Ryuu and I have been friends for a long time now, and we met through a writing group sometime in....2006? 2007?  
> Thank you so much, love. This chapter is dedicated to you, and your determination to bring Brienne and Ariadne to life.

Grace Halloway had no patience for musical hold-tones today, and the universe seemed to know that. She heard maybe five bars of music that today made her grit her teeth and want to kill someone, slowly, before the intended recipient of her rage picked up the phone.

_“Hello, Grace,”_

“Augustine Sycamore, you told me she would be perfectly safe, traipsing around the region!” Her voice had gone up an octave. “My Pokémon journey was completely boring except when I walked into a gym!”

 _“…What?”_ He sounded astonished.

“You haven’t heard?” Oh this just took the cake. “Brienne was checked into Geosenge Hospice yesterday, and I got the call last night!”

_“WHAT? Why, I haven’t heard a thing!”_

“Well, it’s about time you _start_ hearing things, mister. I’m about an inch away from walking out my door and going to Geosenge myself!” She huffed and paced in a circle, phone clamped to one ear and other hand on her hip.

_“Easy, Grace, easy. I will go to Geosenge and check up on Brienne myself. There is no need to stress your elderly Ryhorn and make it run halfway across the region.”_

“You better!” She huffed again and relaxed, minutely. “I’ll be heading up to Lumiose anyway. Brienne told me her birthday was August first, and I want to find her a Dawn Stone for Dirk.”

 _“Ah! A perfect gift! I’m sure they will both love it.”_  There was a sigh. _“I meant to check up on Brienne anyway, to see how she and her Pokémon were. I was simply going to send a Holo-Caster message, but perhaps it is better I see her in person.”_

More of the tension Grace had built up over the night and into the morning bled off into the air as Sycamore explained his plans. She wasn’t the only one worried that Brienne would crash and burn on this journey.

“Thank you, Augustine. When you see her, could you tell her to _call_ me? It’s been a whole month and not a word! This was the first I’ve heard of anything!”

_“Of course, Grace. I will see you in Lumiose, perhaps?”_

She snorted dryly. “Maybe. Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

 _“I am getting my Charizard now…”_ There was a click as the professor hung up the phone.

Grace simply sighed and put the phone back onto its charger. She had packing to do.

~*~

Brienne jerked awake, and promptly regretted that action as the headache _she still had­_ announced itself with vigor. Her hand found its way to cover her eyes and she turned over to bury her face in the pillow. Maybe she could smother the headache. Or herself. Either way the headache would be gone.

Wait. Pillow? Wasn’t she on Route Ten?

"Dieu soit loué, tu es réveillée!" A much too happy voice exclaimed from next to the bed she was—apparently— on.

 _Thank god, you’re awake? When did I fall asleep? Where was that Flare idiot?_ “Mmmmhhhrrrrrgh. What hell am I in and why is it pounding on my head?” She glared faintly at the other person.

Professor Sycamore grinned faintly. “The hell you are in is Geosenge Hospice and the pounding is probably from dehydration. Do you feel like sitting up and drinking water?”

“Yes, please, thank you.” Sitting up in the bed only made the world spin a little bit. She took that as a victory.

The glass was comfortingly cool in her hands and the water was heaven on her throat. She swallowed, paused, stared at the water in the glass, and then handed it back to the professor. “Hi. Uhm. Why are you here? Why am I here?”

“Well,” The older man leaned back in his chair, a hand coming up to rub at his chin. “That is a question philosophers have been pondering for many a century, Brienne. Some say that Arceus put us on this planet for a very specific purpose, and others say that our fate is up to us…” He trailed off when the level of Brienne’s unamused glare reached ‘bore a hole through your skull.’ He chuckled. “The doctor says you had extreme psychic fatigue and dehydration. A very kind trainer found you and your Ivysaur and brought you in.” A sigh. “And as for me, your Aunt Grace was notified of your entry to the hospice via the emergency contact feature on your Holo-Caster. She called me this morning and told me to come check up on you. She was worried, and will be seeing you when you reach Lumiose City again. And she wants you to call her.”

“Oh. Huh.” Beyond her first complaint at consciousness, actual language was not quite in her grasp yet. The headache had eased a bit with the water, but it still felt like there was a sea urchin in the middle of her head.

Sycamore tilted his head curiously. “What happened?”

Trying to think past the throb in her head was difficult. “…Dunno. Woke up with a migraine halfway through route ten yesterday…it got worse…And then I just passed out.”

The professor frowned. “What you’re describing sounds like what happens to amateur psychics in this area. How were Dirk and Kanaya through this?”

She froze, thoughts jumpstarting as frantic worry hit her. “Kanaya said they both had huge headaches…Where are they?” She patted around for her pokéballs, even though she guessed they wouldn’t be on her.

“Easy! I’ve got them right here…” He picked up her secondary belt, with all five pokéballs attached. “They were taken to the Pokémon center when you were admitted, and I picked them up before I came here. Want to see them?” He smiled.

Kanaya and Dirk didn’t wait for her answer. A flash and both Kirlia were on the bed with her, snuggling into either side.

“Hey guys, how are you doing? You okay?”

Kanaya clung tight, face buried in the crook of her trainer’s neck. **_“I’m fine. But I’m going to toast Saturn over an open fire.”_**

Brienne huffed gently, all thoughts of anyone else in the room gone. “’Naya, it wasn’t his fault. In fact, I think he got help.”

 _“We should have been there. We could have dealt with a little headache.”_ Dirk stomped his foot and pouted.

“Dirk. You were hurting just as much as I was, for much longer. Stop it.”

_ “But mooooom…!” _

“No buts!” She said firmly. “It happened, I’m okay now, everything’s fine.”

Sycamore’s jaw slowly dropped. “You can hear them?”

The trainer blinked in mild surprise as she was reminded that, yes, there _was_ someone else in the room with her. “Uh, yeah? I could from the get-go. They hatched, and they were talking. It was…uhm…surreal and awesome at the same time.” She shrugged. “I can head Dresden and Glubby too, though they sound a lot different from these two.” Her arms wrapped lovingly around the two psi Pokémon, she leaned back against the bed’s headboard and sighed. “Dresden talks more with his emotions, and experiences, and a lot less with words. If he doesn’t know how to explain something he usually just ‘copies’ his thought process over. Glubby…Glubby doesn’t talk much.”

“That certainly explains things. I would have warned you had I known.” Sycamore frowned and folded his arms.

“Warned me of what? God, do I _hate_ being left out of the loop. Spill it!” She huffed, frustrated.

“Of course. We should have told you everything about anything the second you arrived. How mistaken of me.” He gave her a dry look.

Brienne grumbled and squirmed in her spot.

“…Now. From what you’re describing, it seems you have latent psychic abilities. Not everyone can understand what their Pokémon are saying, not so eloquently, not even if the Pokémon has psi abilities.”

“Psychics are a _thing_ here?” Her voice was disbelieving. “It’s just a hoax back home. _Then again…_ A lot of things here are just hoaxes and stories back home.” She sighed.

“Yes, very much so.” Sycamore rubbed his chin in thought. “I hesitate to say full psychic, because you cannot hear your Ivysaur, but that may change over time or with training. This was certainly unexpected!” He brightened, the scientist in him pleased at the new input.

“…You said training.” Her voice was very, very flat.

“Of course. Should you reach the Anistar Gym, on the eastern side of the region, you could ask for advice, or a teacher, regardless if you win a badge from Olympia, the gym leader. Actually, I strongly suggest you do, if you are sensitive to this area. Olympia herself is a psychic known for having one or two vivid prophecies a year.”

The information was a lot to take in at once. So, Brienne did what she did best, and decided she’d worry about it later. “Sensitive to this area? What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Ah. Something that’s been more common in recent years. Psychics that come by this area without sufficient mental shielding will get extreme headaches and occasionally pass out. I assume the headache started when you walked by the standing stones on the southern half of route ten?”

Had it? “Maybe…?”

“You aren’t sure. That’s fine. Everything else suggests this. There is something about the area that is harmful to psi and psi-type Pokémon. We have yet to figure it out, honestly.” Sycamore grouched, nose crinkled in academic frustration. “Every time a ghost-type specialist or medium comes by to give us information, they stare for a few minutes and then refuse to tell us _anything._ It is infuriating beyond belief. But I think you understand _that_ feeling, no?”

She snorted in agreement.

“The town of Geosenge itself does not have this issue, for whatever reason. I think you will be fine, as long as you do not head back south for too long. You said it took a full day and a half for it to get to unbearable levels? So quick trips to perhaps catch one or two Pokémon and then straight back north.” Sycamore stood and nodded once. “That’s sorted, then. I will see you later, Brienne, once you return to Lumiose City.”

He turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks when a thought occurred to him. “Oh! There is someone in Shalour City called the Mega-Evolution Guru that should have information on that stone I gave you with your Ivysaur. Perhaps if you talked to him, you would find out more. And call Grace soon, will you? I am afraid she will bite my head off if you don’t.” He chuckled sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his head. “She wants an update on how you are doing. I think she misses you.”

Brienne nodded. “All right, I will…I meant to do that in Ambrette Town…” She frowned to herself.

“Feel better soon, Brienne.” Sycamore waved goodbye, and gently shut the door to the little hospice room behind him.

“Welp. Shit keeps getting weird. What next?” She snorted.

~*~

She was released from the hospice the next day with a stern warning to not walk back south, especially without someone who wasn’t sensitive to psi energies. If she had to go back to Cyllage City any time soon, it would be best for her to return to Lumiose City and once again travel the long way.

The question occurred to her when she was signing out at the front desk.

“Excuse me…” She waited for the front-desk nurse to finish with the patient she was dealing with. “But can you tell me who brought me in? I’d like to say thank you, and treat them to dinner or something if they left a number. They really didn’t have to do that.”

The nurse smiled and shuffled for a clipboard. “Your name?”

“Brienne Lalonde.”

“Oh, yes, I remember that…it was quite the shock. Geosenge’s a sleepy little town; you’ve been quite the gossip-maker…” Her finger slid down a list on the clipboard, her eyes following just after. “The name the girl signed in is, ah here it is, Damara Megido.” The nurse returned her view to the now frozen in shock Brienne. “Does the name ring a bell?”

“…Yeah.” She swallowed. It rang a bell, all right. Just not the ones she was expecting. “What was she wearing?”

“Oh, I couldn’t tell you outright. It was an odd costume. Lots of shades of purple. And she wouldn’t take off her hood, so I never saw what she looked like. I’m sorry I couldn’t help more.” The nurse frowned slightly.

Why did it feel like the ground had dropped out from under her feet? “No…no you helped plenty…thanks…” She nearly stumbled out the hospice doors, too shocked to think of where exactly she was going except out.

Homestuck was not a thing here. She’d looked.

Damara Megido was given the title ‘Handmaid’ in her adult version, forever stuck to travel through time at her master’s bidding. It was not a kind cause. But the fact that this ‘Damara’ was wearing purple was the real flag-raiser. Damara would always wear _bright lime green_ , or if in some sort of god-tier outfit, a rust-red. _Purple_ did not fit with the character’s theme.

It could just be someone with the same name. It wasn’t impossible.

Nothing made sense, and Brienne did not have enough puzzle pieces to figure it out herself.

She sighed and cast around for a Pokémon Center. She could do with a solid meal and a little bit of planning time with her map. All signs pointed to her hauling ass out of Geosenge on towards Shalour.

…And she had to call Grace. Right. That was a thing she had to do.

Why did she keep forgetting that?

~*~

 The Holo-Caster rang three times before Grace picked up on the other end. _“Hello?”_

“Hi, Grace. Sorry I took so long to call.”

 _“Brienne! I’ve been worried sick about you! What happened? Are you okay? The Hospice refused to tell me much, I was five seconds away from charging up there myself. What’s going on? How are Dirk and Kanaya? What about Dresden?”_ She paused to take a breath.

“Grace! Grace I can’t answer anything if you don’t stop talking.” There _was_ a little bit of a grin on her face, but she wouldn’t admit it to anyone.

 _“Oh. Right. Well, get on with it!”_ She huffed impatiently.

Where to start? “I’m all right. It was just psychic exhaustion. Turns out I’m psychic. Who knew?” Her voice had gone up in disbelief.

 _“I’ve heard of that happening, but I never thought…No wonder that Gardevoir took so well to you!”_ Brienne heard a ‘click’ of snapping fingers. _“There’s no other way what happened makes sense. Well, good on you!”_

“Thanks…” She didn’t know what to make of the ability herself. Her Pokémon could talk to her for the most part. It made things here a little easier. Was it that out of the ordinary?

Great. Weirdo in a weird world.

 _“Well, c’mon, tell me about your team? How many Pokémon have you caught? What about your gym battles?”_ Grace sounded like an excited ten-year-old who wanted stories from the eccentric uncle of the family.

“I’ve got five Pokémon now. When we were in Lumiose, Professor Sycamore gave us the choice out of _another_ three Pokémon, so I got Saturn, a Bulbasaur. Santalune Gym went well…it was bug types. Bug types against fire.” The grin on her face was well heard in her voice. That had been an awesome battle.

Grace giggled. _“Oh I bet Dresden had a fun time.”_

“Yes, yes he did. And Kanaya did just as well, taking out a Surskit.” She hummed as pride bubbled in her.

_“And Cyllage? Do I have to drag this out of you?”_

Honestly? Kinda. “Dresden evolved on the way to Camphrier, and Dirk and Kanaya evolved on the way to Ambrette. I caught an Inkay a couple miles outside of Ambrette Town, so the full team is Dirk, Kanaya, Dresden, Saturn the Bulbasaur, and Glubby the Inkay. The Cyllage gym…” She trailed off. Forgetting that mess-up of a battle was all she wanted to do.

_“Oh, baby, it’s okay if you lost. Gym leaders are impressed if you come back. I lost my third and fourth gym battles a couple times.”_

“I lost the first time around. There were…extenuating circumstances. Second time around Dirk and Glubby kicked lots of ass.” She smirked. “They’ve gotten strong, and I barely had any time to train Glubby.”

_“Good for you. You’re taking really well to this, Brienne. I admit I’m kind of surprised. Are you alone?”_

“Yeah. In a small rental room in the Geosenge Pokémon Center.”

_“Okay. I had my doubts when you headed out, but I knew Dirk and Kanaya would keep you out of harm’s way for the most part. To hear you take on the gyms so strongly is really encouraging. Most trainers usually put dedicated time and research into each gym before they take them on. You’ve got a fantastic bond with your Pokémon and it’s showing in their skills. For someone who hadn’t grown up with Pokémon, you’ve gotten into the groove quite quickly.”_

“…Really? I…” Blown away didn’t quite describe it. Was this all it took? It can’t be this easy.

_“Yeah, really. Those with the strongest bonds to their Pokémon always have the best teams. It’s how I got to be such a good Ryhorn racer.”_

“Oh. That’s…that’s actually comforting.” It didn’t make _sense_ , but it was comforting. She wasn’t just pushing her team around to battle like a careless general with his troops. They wanted to battle and enjoyed it.

_“Well, you don’t sound any worse for wear. I’ll have to make sure myself when you make it back to Lumiose. Be sure you make it back before August, okay? I remember that you told me that was when your birthday was, and if you can’t be home, I at least want to do something special for you.”_

She’d…kinda forgotten all about it. The Holo-Caster said it was July 6th. And Grace wanted to do something special for her…?

Her eyes felt hot. “Thank you Grace. I’ll be sure to be there as soon as I can. I’ve got to haul-it to Shalour, so I’ll be leaving tomorrow. I…” Her voice cut off. She didn’t know what to say with the bubble of sudden emotions.

_“It’s what I’d do for anyone in the family, dear. Give me a ring when you’re a day out of Lumiose, okay, so I know when to expect you. See you soon.”_

“Okay Grace. I’ll do that. Promise. See you soon.”

 _“Bye, hon!”_ A click, and the call ended, Brienne’s Holo-Caster going back to the main menu screen.

She sat on the rickety bed that had probably seen a few too many people sleeping in it, staring blankly at the rotating screen. Grace meant to treat her like family.

She ought to do the same.

~*~

**_“Mom, Mom, we should honestly leave.”_ **

Brienne glanced at Kanaya, confused at the wariness in her Kirlia’s mental ‘voice.’ For whatever reason, Geosenge proper was exempt from the psi-draining field the standing stones on Route Ten emitted, even though the three biggest ones were smack in the middle of town. “Why? What’s got you so worried?” They sat at a table in the cafeteria in the Pokémon Center, the remains of lunch scattered around.

 ** _“I don’t know! And that’s what’s got me so nervous. This whole place just screams of…”_** Her words trailed off, her tiny hands rubbing at the horns on the top of her head. **_“Echoes. I keep hearing echoes and I can’t find where they’re coming from! It’s giving me a headache. Lighter than what I felt on the road, but still annoying.”_**

Her trainer deftly picked up her small psychic and placed her on her lap, gently rubbing her head. “I’m sorry, Kanaya. I promise not to stay here too long. Does sitting in your pokéball lessen it at all?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Brienne watched an Absol approach.

 ** _“Somewhat? It’s easier to ignore when I meditate, and Dirk doesn’t hear them as well as I do. Gl’bgolyb does, and it just makes her giggle.”_** Kanaya snorted dryly, her opinion of the squid Pokémon still not very high.

“Okay, Kanaya.” Brienne nodded, placing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m going to take you to Nurse Joy for some quick headache relief, and then you can spend most of the time in your pokéball, all right? I promise to leave as soon as I can. Sycamore doesn’t want me here any longer than I have to be.”

Kanaya sighed and nodded, resting against her trainer’s chest. **_“Okay. This is comfortable too.”_**

Brienne hummed, stroking her Kirlia’s back gently.

An Absol padded up to them, and was watching them warily. Brienne had noticed, but Kanaya was first priority. She refocused, one eyebrow arching as the Absol sniffed at the air around them, and sneezed.

“Hi? You okay there? I’m not sure I’ve got anything you want…” She trailed off when jean-covered legs came up behind the Absol.

“Hello. Um…” It was a girl, around her own age, with brown skin and a head full of micro-braids that for a moment reminded Brienne of a bead curtain. The gray hoodie she’d shoved her hands into hid the girl’s shape beyond the tightly held shoulders and straight pose. “I’m sorry for—I mean—I heard—Kanaya?”

Brienne’s second eyebrow rose to join the first. “My Kirlia?” She motioned to the mildly dazed Pokémon on her lap.

“Yes. Um…” She paused, struggling for words. “Her name is Kanaya? Do you…” She bit her lips. “Have a Karkat, maybe?” Her breathing had gotten a little faster, but she was focused on the question.

Brienne froze, shocked. Kanaya herself turned sharp eyes on the new trainer. She couldn’t…

She stood, holding Kanaya in the crook of one arm. “No…but I do have a Dirk.”

The second girl’s eyes went wide. “Dirk Strider?”

“Yes!” Brienne tensed, excitement running through her. She couldn’t believe it!

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god.” If it was possible, her eyes went even wider and she swayed in her spot. Her Absol nudged her in the hip, and she grabbed a chair from the table next to her and sat down, hard.

“Oh my god, where are you from? How long have you been here I thought I was the only one! I’m Brienne oh my god do you know why or how it happened?” She blabbered, sitting back down as well and scooching closer.

The other girl—other transfer—curled in on herself, chin tucked toward her chest, and then deliberately _un_ curled, slightly, nibbling her lower lip.

“I can’t believe there’s someone else from home here! I got dropped in Santalune Forest and decided to go on a ‘Pokémon journey’ ‘cause the Champion might have answers and the local professor has been very helpful ‘cause he gave me info on the local gods and holy crap are the laws of physics on crack here? I can’t even believe—”

Abol barked, once, hard and sharp, breaking Brienne out of her excited chatter.

“Huh?” She blinked at the Absol in confusion, before a soft flash of light returned her attention to the other girl who’d come from _her_ Earth.

There was a Swablu wrapped in her arms and her face was buried in the cottony feathers, soft coos coming from the tiny blue bird.

“Um…Oops?” Brienne blushed.

The Absol snorted dryly.

Brienne consciously chomped on her lower lip to keep from saying anything else as Kanaya leaned up and gently bapped her trainer on the forehead.

**_“Hush, you. Take it slow. Too many words, not enough spaces. Most people can keep up with you, she can’t.”_ **

She sighed and waited.

It took a little while, but the other girl eventually picked her head up from the Swablu, and her eyes slowly crept up to meet Brienne’s face once again.

Brienne smiled sheepishly.

**_“Okay, mom, NOW you can talk. Slowly.”_ **

“Uhm, sorry. Hi. I’m Brienne Lalonde.”

“…Ariadne Willow.” She answered quietly, chin resting on top of the Swablu’s head.

“Hi, Ariadne.” She leaned back into her chair, one hand slowly rubbing Kanaya’s head to help with the headache. The Kirlia melted, slumping against her trainer’s chest with a happy sigh. “Where are you from?”

“Just, um. Around the NYC area.” She replied.

“Oh, cool. I’m from Maryland, not too far from DC. I’ve been here about two months. You?”

“Forty-one days.”

Brienne blinked at the exact day count. She…hadn’t been as diligent, once she realized that home was too far out of reach to get there immediately.

“Wow. That wasn’t too long after me. I have to wonder if there’s a reason for that.” Brienne ran a hand through her hair, racking her brain for questions in the shock of finding someone from home.

Ariadne’s eyes were running back and forth, like she was reading something behind Brienne that only she could see, slight crinkles at the corners of her eyes.

“Where’d you first start? I woke up in Vaniville, it’s a small town about a week’s worth of hiking south and east of here. Been taking the gym challenges to see if I could get any information at all.” She shrugged.

Ariadne quirked a small smile. “Fortree, actually, down in Hoenn. I’ve, um,” She paused. “I’ve been around.”

Brienne’s eyebrows went shooting up. “Damn, girl. Props to you for travelling. Have you made any contacts? I got taken in by a wonderful lady in Vaniville named Grace, and she’s helped me a lot.”

"Not... _contacts_ , exactly, A few people have helped me out when they didn't need to, but I don't really stay in one place long enough for anyone to really take notice of me. The longest was at Mossdeep, where I got a job at the space center for a while."

“In other words, you’ve never told anybody where you’re from?” This girl surprised Brienne more and more.

Ariadne shook her head.

Brienne snorted softly and shook her head. “Heh. Can’t say I blame you. When I think how completely ridiculous our story sounds—”

“I need to get home.” Ariadne interrupted.

The blonde froze mid-sentence, mouth open as her brain switched tracks. “I’d like to do that, too, but I haven’t figured out how, yet. I’ve done a little research, some of the ‘gods’” And here Brienne brought up her fingers in quotation marks. “From Sinnoh might be able to do it, but getting at them…they haven’t been seen for ages. There were a couple incidents with them a couple years ago, but other than that…” She shrugged, scratching at her head in mild helpless frustration.

She blinked as she processed the information. “They’re the time and space ones, right?”

Brienne nodded. “Everything feels like it got dragged straight out of a sci-fi book plot. It was the best idea I had. I’m still working on it.” She scrambled around for her bag and realized she’d left it in her room. “Argh. Kanaya, could you go get the file folder in my camper bag for me?”

Kanaya hopped off her trainer’s lap and nodded. **_“Sure. I’ll be just a bit.”_** The Kirlia trotted out of the room and Brienne watched her go before returning her attention to Ariadne.

The other girl watched the Kirlia go as well, waves of mini-braids cascading over her shoulder. “It's like something out of a fairytale, you know?” She turned back, petting the Swablu in her lap. “I wanted to be a vet because I always felt like I could trust animals more than people. In all the stories, they were always the best listeners. Animals don't know how to pretend to care about you, they just do. Pokémon are just like that, but with the intelligence to actually _help_ rather than just...” Her voice trailed off. “Sincerity and ability are almost never found in the same place, I've found. Except here."

“It’s wild. I wake up some days and wonder if I’m just dreaming really vividly…the people here? I’ve been blown away by the kindness. I’ve…” She trailed off and rubbed at her face, eyes locking onto Ariadne over her hand. “I’ve seen both kindness and the ability to be kind, here. Had it given to me, as well. I couldn’t believe it, at the time. Still can’t, some days.” She chuckled wryly. “Look. Both Grace and the regional professor, Augustine Sycamore, know about where I’m from. The fact that they believed me shocked me, but they do. I can give you their contact information, and if you need shelter in Kalos, they’ll give it to you.”

“Um…” She wavered, tucking a few braids behind her ear before shaking her head. “Alright. Can’t hurt. Thanks.”

“I’d like to give you mine, and maybe get yours?” She shrugged. “It’d be great if we could keep in contact, at least a little.”

Ariadne shrugged again as Kanaya came back, the file folder containing all the information Professor Sycamore had given Brienne on various Legendaries held in both hands.

 ** _“I don’t know how, but this thing got lodged at the very bottom of the camper. Took me a little to dislodge it. Uhm…there’s a bit of a mess in the room, now.”_** Kanaya sounded sheepish.

Brienne couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Oh, geeze. Kanaya, it’s fine. You did great.” She patted her lap. The Kirlia handed her trainer the rather thick manila folder and scrambled back up, enthusiastic to cuddle and get more head rubs.

“Right, so, I think they’re called Dialga and Palkia…” She trailed off as she flipped through the pages and attached photographs, looking for the two specific Pokémon. “Yeah, here we go. Dialga, god of time, and Palkia, god of space.” She handed the sheets of paper to Ariadne. “There were some idiots a few years ago who tried to take them under control, and a couple people who have seen them…there was some sort of _massive­_ mess going on. I’ve got more digging to do. Info on Galactic is hard to get.” She sighed and slumped in her seat, hands absentmindedly rubbing the base of Kanaya’s horns. “You might need to head to Sinnoh to get more information. And this world is just so full of awesome, so it’d be a great trip.”

“Going home is not an option. I _need_ to.” The statement was much sharper than nearly anything Ariadne had said before.

Brienne’s train of thought crashed. “I wasn’t suggesting…”

“For medical reasons.”

A small pit of cold developed in the blonde’s stomach. “Oh. Is it okay if I ask what kind?”

Ariadne looked down for a short pause, before leaning over and picking up her bag and shuffling through it, pulling out a rather substantial pill bottle, handing it to the other girl. “I don’t know if you’ve been able to tell, but I have pretty severe anxiety problems, along with a sprinkling of depression, intrusive thoughts, and probably some flavor of autism that my parents refused to get an official diagnosis for a lot of bullshit reasons. I take three different medications, but this was the only one I had on my person when I was pulled over, and it's not going to last. And whatever's in it, they don't make it here. I've checked."

Brienne blinked and shrugged, quickly glancing over the information on the pill bottle. “Oh. I just thought you were really shy and couldn’t take my speed-babble. Kanaya told me I was being an idiot and to slow down.” She chuckled sheepishly. “What did you say exactly, Kan?”

The Kirlia rolled her eyes fondly. **_“It was, ‘Hush, you. Take it slow. Too many words, not enough spaces. Most people can keep up with you, she can’t.’”_** The little psychic used a little extra power to broadcast her words to both people in the group.

“Kanaya’s better at the people thing than I am. Don’t know how she does it.” A small grin grew on her face as she handed back the bottle.

“Nah, I don’t blame you for not knowing how to deal with me. I barely know how to deal with myself.” She sighed, softly. “I just... I haven't been able to find a way home in all this time, so I need another stopgap before my medication runs out. People here seem to use pet therapy for a lot of the types of problems I have—I mean, just look at Swablu here." The bird in question trilled a short musical bar, and Ariadne smiled. "She's been a huge help—all my Pokémon have. But I was poking around, and people seem to think if she's not quite enough, then a Sylveon would definitely do the trick. Which is how I wound up here. Um, _here_ here, not just this world here."

Brienne nodded. “Right. That sounds like an Eevee evolution. You’re right, they can be found on route ten.” The blonde sighed and rubbed at her face. “Argh.”

Ariadne frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I was just on route ten. It’s…Okay. Warning you now, weird world shit incoming.” She groaned quietly and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I came up north on route ten from Cyllage City. It turns out the standing stones lining the route can disable and harm weaker psychics. And I found this out because as I went further north, most of my team—who are psi themselves— _and myself_ got some really nasty headaches. I eventually passed out on the route and someone was nice enough to drag me to the local hospice. Turns out I’m psychic. Somehow. It…must have been really latent back home? I _really_ don’t know. All I know is most of my team has psi ability, except for Saturn, who is a grass and poison type.”

Kanaya frowned and hugged her trainer tighter.

“Even now, this town is a little weird and is wigging Kanaya out. I was planning on pchooo-ing my ass outta here tomorrow morning, bright and early.” She slumped. “This place is _weeeiiiiird._ ”

“…Huh. A’ight. Sounds legit.” Ariadne shrugged.

Brienne _stared._ “…Just like that, you believe…” She paused and ran her next statement through her head. “Y’know what? Neither of us are in any position to be doubtful about _anything._ ”

“There are psychic Pokémon, which means being psychic is a thing that is possible. And Pokémon are organic, with roughly the same molecular composition as us when you get down to it. The brains of psychic type Pokémon are the most similar to human brains out of all of them, so it's not that big of a stretch to think that whatever causes certain Pokémon to be psychic, it can happen in humans too.”

It took a bit for the blonde to digest this. “…You said your last name was Willow?”

“Yeeeaaaah…?”

“…Huh.”

~*~

The day was bright, warm, and a little bit humid as both Ariadne and Brienne wandered south on route ten. Now that she knew what to expect and why, Brienne could watch the headache that was slowly building behind her temples. Ariadne had put up some concerns with the offer, but the blonde had insisted and said it wouldn’t be too much of an issue as long as she didn’t stay on it all day.

She’d left everyone except Saturn at the Pokémon Center, much to the twins’ annoyance. She was the one being stupid and going where she had been told not to; she didn’t have to inflict that on any of her sensitive Pokémon.

“I vaguely remember hearing a bunch of Eevee romping around a couple nights ago. They kept me up for about an hour, and I don’t think we’re too far away from where they were now…” Brienne sighed and scratched her head, casting her gaze around all the standing stones as she tried to think through the headache. “Sadly everything looks the same.”

“Did you have anyone out the morning you woke up?” Ariadne asked, already casting about at the base of a few nearby stones.

“…Saturn, actually. He might have a better memory. Hey Saturn, help me out?” Brienne pleaded to the Pokémon as he appeared in a flash. And immediately froze as she took the newly evolved Pokémon in.

“ _Waitaminute!_ When did you evolve?” A smile slowly grew on her face as she took in the overall larger body with slightly longer and sturdier legs. She kneeled to get a closer look. Saturn’s bulb had bloomed, large fern-like leaves framing a beautiful pink flower that was on the cusp of opening. “Oh, Saturn, you’re _gorgeous._ ”

Saturn gave the biggest saurian grin he could and glomped his trainer, front paws landing on her shoulders and knocking her over. “Ivysaur! Saaaaur!”

“Ooooof! Saturn! Baby,” She broke into giggles as the second-stage grass type nuzzled into her face, ecstatic to see her awake and all right. “I gotcha…I’m okay, see? Awake and everything. I’m sorry I passed out on you. You did a fantastic job keeping me safe.” She kissed his snout.

Ariadne smiled as she watched the cuddling in the thick grass. Brienne had just as close a bond with her Pokémon as she did, if not more, and even though she hadn’t said it outright, probably did not want to leave them to go back to their original world.

Given time, Brienne might call this place _home._

Brienne flopped, limbs akimbo as Saturn settled on top of his trainer. “Ooof, you got heavier. Aaaaanyway, the only reason I am on this route again is because we’re looking for Eevee. Do you think you can sniff your way to where we camped last night?”

Saturn sighed heavily. “Saaaaaur…” He hopped his way off his trainer and put nose to the ground, quickly trotting off a little bit more south.

“Thattaway.” Brienne grinned and pointed imperiously. “Follow the ‘Saur.”

It only took them fifteen to twenty more minutes of hiking before Saturn plopped himself down at the base of a standing stone, looking very proud of himself. “Iv-saur!”

She kneeled down once more to give him a good scratching under the chin, one of his favorite spots to be rubbed. He melted. “Good job, buddy. Now, there should be a nest within sight. The Eevee were pretty loud that night. Or it was the headache magnifying everything I heard. Either way, it’s close.”

The two circled around, Saturn dogging Brienne’s feet until, taking a misstep, the blonde tripped over a small rise in the grass and landed face-first in brown-hued fur.

She sneezed. “…Found it!”

Ariadne hurried over. “Seems abandoned.”

Brienne picked herself up and crouched, one hand on Saturn for balance. “I may have been a little too close that night, and that convinced the mother that she needed to up and move. So. Hunt number two. Saturn?”

The Ivysaur sighed good-naturedly and nudged the largest piles of brown fluff with his snout, before sniffing the surrounding area and heading north, back the way they came.

“Riiiiight.” His trainer eyed the grass type as it walked off, then grunted and stood to her full height. “Headache plus backtracking. Bleh. Alright, let's go... Ariadne?"

Ariadne kneeled down to examine the nest, and pulled out a long orange feather camouflaged among all the light brown fur.

Brienne frowned, but didn't immediately recognize it. "Uhh, everything alright?" she asked.

Ariadne stood up again. "Nothing. Um. It's this way, right?"

The two followed the Ivysaur, who had stopped some distance from them with a look over his shoulder that expressed his impatience; ‘are you coming or not? My trainer is dealing with shit and I want her out of here asap.’

~*~

It took the trio another hour, hour and a half of following a circuitous route through the grass and around standing stones. They passed the time talking about, of all things, Homestuck, and the new updates that had happened while Brienne was gone.

"...So now, in addition to random arms retconned everywhere, there are random splotches of oil?"

"Mhmm. Though surprisingly they're less noticeable than the arms, which I guess is good for archival readers. They're already gonna be so confused!"

"Euuugh," Brienne groaned. "If I never have to go through the agony of being transferred to another fricking planet right after Hussie dropped Game Over on us, it'll be too soon."

Suddenly Saturn stopped, tilted his head, and changed direction slightly. The girls glanced at one another, but followed, and it wasn't long before they heard it too: a piteous wail coming from the cluster of stones just ahead.

Brienne lifted her hand from the bridge of her nose, where it had been all but permanently attached for the past forty-five minutes in an attempt to stave off the impending migraine. "What is that?"

Ariadne frowned in the direction of the cry, and began to step cautiously forward, past where Saturn waited. Brienne followed, her footsteps making considerably more noise. At the crack of a dry stick breaking under the blonde's shoe, the crying stopped. Her head gave a fresh pound, and her face flushed in embarrassment.

They tiptoed closer - Ariadne with considerably more speed and silence than Brienne, who was frankly impressed by that fact. Gods help her if she could get up in the afternoon without breaking a shin.

A glimmer in the sun drew their attention as something in the grass moved.

An abrupt yowl of anger came from the left, where an adult Eevee blended in among the roots of a broad tree. Its luxurious brown- and cream-colored fur bristled as it hissed, catlike, at the silvery sparkle in the grass that had once again begun to wail and mewl.

Brienne's breath caught. "Ariadne," she whispered, "that's a shiny Eevee!" Her mind reeled! Finding genetic variation in a Pokémon’s color was so rare in the wild, and rarer still in an elusive Pokémon like Eevee! Ariadne, however, was stock-still.

The tiny silver Eevee kit gave another cry, then began walking toward what Brienne could only assume was its mother.

The adult Eevee snarled, then launched itself at the kit, head-butting it into the air. It landed some feet away with a dull wet thump.

Brienne gasped and flinched at the violence, eyes wide, as confusion and shock warred in her mind. "The _fuck_?"

The baby mewled piteously and fought to bring itself upright, and began to stumble back toward its mother. In response, she raised a paw and brought it down, opening several gashes in the kit's chest and foreleg. This time it didn't get up.

Something within Brienne _snarled_. That Eevee was the little one's mother! What the hell was she doing attacking it?

"Saturn! Vine whip the mother Eevee. Put some space between the two!"

The grass-type sprung into the mess and multiple vines shot into action, knocking the Eevee for a loop.

Suddenly there were more cries coming from the hollow root system of the tree. The Eevee glanced quickly back, then walked backward with her fur bristled until she reached the entrance of the den under the tree and darted inside.

Fists clenched and eyes narrowed, the blonde stalked towards the tree, intent on checking the other Eevee kits, whose squeaks had stopped just as abruptly as the shiny one's. But as she crouched to see, all but prepared to dropkick the mother Eevee herself, legitimate pokemon battles be damned, she was met with a surprising scene.

The mother Eevee hissed as she saw the intruder, puffing herself up and making to claw at Brienne's face. Behind her, three infant Eevee, fresh out of their eggs, huddled and cowered behind their mother's legs, nosing her bruises with concern. Brienne blinked, then gaped as the mother Eevee stepped back further still, covering the shivering kits with her own body.

She stared, and rubbed at her temples with one hand. Maybe her headache was getting the best of her and she was seeing things. Those kits dearly loved her, and the adult Eevee was clearly extremely protective of them.

So why the abuse towards the shiny kit? It made little sense.

"I've read about this," Ariadne said softly. Brienne glanced back; she had actually almost forgotten the other girl was there. She was knelt over the tiny injured kit, and after a moment's hesitation, went to join her.

"Oftentimes," the girl said in a dull, dead voice, "whatever genetic anomaly that causes a shiny Pokémon’s coat to shimmer like that will attract predators and endanger the nest." She held up the feather she had found earlier. "Hawlucha, or maybe a Fearow. Something attacked the old nest, and when that happens it's not uncommon for a mother Pokémon to abandon the shiny infant causing the trouble. That's why there are so few shiny Pokémon in the wild."

The thing that had snarled within Brienne not long ago quickly quieted, replaced with an intense need to make sure the little shiny kit was cared for and cuddled to within an inch of its life. More strongly, though, was the sickening feeling that nature, as always, could be a good bit callous. This was just one of the ways it was.

With infinite care, Ariadne slid her hands under the kit's limp body and lifted it up. It did not regain consciousness, which might have been good or bad.

"We might be able to carry it more safely inside a pokéball," Brienne suggested.

Ariadne hesitated, but eventually drew a small sphere from one of her pockets, expanded it, and touched its interface ever so gently to Eevee's body.

~*~

The nurse said the damage was extensive, but not unfixable.

It was likely that the kit had been trailing after its family all through that day, potentially longer, getting attacked and beaten down and chased off all the while. Internal bleeds had been identified and sewn, surface wounds bandaged and sprayed with healing agents, broken clavicle set. It was a toss-up whether the resilience of youth or the fragility of infancy would win out, but the nursing staff were all in agreement that the little shiny Eevee would, in fact, heal. It was just a matter of how long it would take, and how much additional care it would take to get there.

"It's amazing, what you did for the poor little thing," Nurse Joy commented with a warm smile. "I guarantee that once it's healed up, that Eevee will be the most loyal friend you ever had!"

Ariadne nodded mutely, but didn't otherwise move at all. Brienne had come to interpret stillness from her as a bad sign.

"You alright?" she asked, placing a careful hand on her shoulder. Ariadne jumped at the contact, and Brienne swiftly removed her hand. "Wow, uh. Some day we had, huh?"

Ariadne did not answer.

"You heard Nurse Joy—the baby'll be fine. And you wanted to catch an Eevee, so..."

"It feels wrong," Ariadne said abruptly.

Brienne stared for a moment but, weirdly, she understood. It was an awful situation, and it was easy to let the badness taint what good might come out of it, rather than let the goodness soften the bad. "It might," she said. "But it is what it is. Are you gonna _not_ take in that Eevee because the circumstances surrounding its capture were unpleasant?"

Ariadne shook her head - quite hard actually. Brienne was perversely amused.

~*~

Ariadne stayed in the waiting room all night while the Eevee was in Recovery. Her Absol, who seemed to dislike pokéballs but also didn't care much where he slept, waited with her. Between the two of them, the aura of laser-like focus was just too damn contagious, and that was the story of how Brienne Lalonde semi-willingly broke her record-setting streak of getting to sleep by midnight. Her sleep schedule would be screwed over for days, and Shauna the Morning Person would make her pay dearly for it, but it seemed like a good cause.

She did doze off eventually. Around two a.m. according to the analog clock on the wall above her head, she woke with a small start and a smaller puddle of drool where her chin rested against her chest. Groaning slightly as she stretched out her cramps, she noticed that while Absol was still snoozing away right where she remembered, Ariadne was nowhere to be seen.

Not too bothered by this, Brienne glanced around. There was an outline of soft light from a door left slightly ajar - the Recovery room. Quietly, she made her way there, and peeked inside.

Lit by a small bedside lamp, the baby Eevee shimmered, a source of dappled reflected light in the darkness. Already it looked healthier. It still whimpered softly in its sleep, but it couldn't have been from pain...

"Shhhhh," Ariadne whispered, tenderly stroking the baby's silvery fur. "Shh, baby, I know it hurts. It can be hard to trust anybody after what you just went through. You're different, and they hated you for it. You think, how could anyone else possibly love you when your own family didn't? But I promise I'll take care of you." She hugged the kit as gently as gently as she could. "We rejects have to stick together."

Biting her lip, Brienne backed away from the open door as quietly as she could, praying that she wouldn't trip over anything. She didn't let the sudden ache and empathy she felt really hit her until she was at least around the corner.

"Oh, Ari..."

She leaned with her back to the wall, letting it support her more than her legs were, tilting her head back to stare inattentively at the ceiling. Ariadne felt rejected by her family? She had absolutely no problem personally dragging the other girl into hers; even if it took years to get her to relax enough to allow it. Especially since it seemed Brienne’s family had been whittled down to her, Grace, and her Pokémon. There was more than enough room, and more could always be made.

~*~

In the end, it was decided Ariadne would stay behind in Geosenge until her new Eevee had completely recovered. Brienne, however, would move on. The majority of her Pokémon had had _Quite Enough_ of this town, and frankly so had she. Plus, she promised Calem she would catch up to him today.

All the same, Brienne regretted having to leave her new friend so soon. But they had already grilled one another on the exact circumstances surrounding their "transfer", and found no patterns apart from having been removed from somewhere on the eastern coast of the United States and deposited in the middle of a forest. Not really enough to go on to draw any conclusions.

The two of them had been awkwardly shuffling around one another in silence for the past hour, packing up their respective belongings as she prepared to leave the Center. In actuality, it was mostly Brienne who packed, as her stuff tended to sprawl and wander into the strangest places. Ariadne still had few possessions in this world, and tended to take out only one thing at a time. She just more moved back and forth across the room to keep up the appearance of looking busy, which Brienne guess was one way to avoid awkward silence, though not the way she would have chosen.

Still, at least she helped find some of her wayward stuff. As the other girl handed over her missing guitar pick with a shy smile, it struck Brienne just how fragile she was. Her clothes, though clean, were threadbare and worn, and the dark circles under her eyes were only more pronounced when she smiled. Ariadne didn't reveal much, and maybe that was because she didn't know how, but Brienne thought about some of the things she _did_ say...

_Around the NYC area, but nowhere specific. Parents refused to get her diagnosed for 'bullshit' reasons. And I got the feeling she wasn't just talking about Eevee's situation last night when she mentioned being kicked out by your family for being different._

In truth, Ariadne was a complete mess, with or without her medication. Which of course made her the star of every pale romance story ever written.

Brienne sighed, and before she could censor herself, she took the pick over to the bed where her guitar still lay, shifted it into her lap, and began to play.

 _"Regrets collect like old friends,_  
Here to relive your darkest moments.  
I can see no way, I can see no way..."

Ariadne stiffened and stared at her intently, but stiff was kind of her default posture, and Brienne noticed her mouthing along with the last line. Encouraged, she went on.

 _"And all of the ghouls come out to play,_  
_And every demon wants his pound of flesh._  
_But I like to keep some things to myself._  
_I like to keep my issues drawn._  
_It's always darkest before the daaaaawn..."_

She let the last note drag out a bit to make it more of a peaceful tune, and was surprised to hear another voice join hers to begin the next verse in _stretto_.

 _"I've been a fool and I've been blind."_ Ariadne's voice rang at a slightly higher register than Brienne's, breathy and warbling, but sweet all the same.

 _"I can never leave the past behind,"_ Brienne replied as her friend fell silent again, smiling. _"I can see no way, I can see no waaaay..."_ And Ariadne rejoined her on the repeat, this time jumping even higher into a harmonizing _canto_. Brienne's smile grew broader.

Ariadne sat on the bed beside her. _"I'm always dragging that horse around..."_ she sang softly, her eyes fixed on her hands in her lap.

Brienne watched her, careful not to push too hard. _"All of his questions, such a mournful sound."_ It was phrased like a question, and Ariadne swallowed.

 _"Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground,"_ The black girl sang, her voice wavering but her body quite still.

Brienne nudged her gently as she played and smiled at her. _"So I like to keep my issues drawn. It's always darkest before the dawn."_

Then she picked up the tempo and volume, because she always liked to imagine this song as a celebration. After all, she had shaken off some of the devils on her back not so long ago, on a beach not far south of here with someone she dearly missed. She had been cruel to Calem - he was only trying to protect her pride after all, which was about the best anyone could ask for in a rival. He'd forgiven her, of course, but she should probably try to make it up to him the next time they met.

And hopefully she'd get to see Shauna soon as well.

 _"Shake it out, shake it out! Shake it out, shake it out! Ooo-oh-oh!_  
_Shake it out, shake it out! Shake it out, shake it out! Ooo-oh-oh!_  
_And it's hard to dance with the devil on your back,_  
_So shake him off! Ooh-oh-oh!"_

Ariadne finally cracked a smile - a _real_ one - and Brienne felt like she had won a prize.

But that feeling was _nothing_ compared to the flutter of surprise and delight when Ariadne got up and started _dancing_. The black girl twirled and stepped with the tempo, looking genuinely _at peace_ for the first time since they'd met. It was clumsy and unpolished, but it was _happy_. Brienne sang on her own and played on, watching her friend's braids fly with every spin.

 _"I am done with my graceless heart,_  
_So tonight I'm gonna cut it out, and then restart._  
_'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn._  
_It's always darkest before the dawn._

 _"Shake it out, shake it out! Shake it out, shake it out! Ooo-oh-oh!_  
_Shake it out, shake it out! Shake it out, shake it out! Ooo-oh-oh!_  
_And it's hard to dance with the devil on your back,_  
_So shake him off! Ooh-oh-oh!"_

Ariadne was so determined to get back to Earth, which was something Brienne genuinely respected about her. Brienne had only been her a week or so longer than her, but Ariadne seemed to have already obtained all the knowledge about legendary Pokémon that she had, perhaps more. And that was _without_ a Pokémon professor handing her a top-secret file, she dug it all up on her own. In a way it reminded Brienne of a friend back on Earth she once had, who proudly displayed a button shaped like an award ribbon on her shoulder bag, which read, "Cried, but did the thing anyway."

She was determined, which Brienne respected. She was also wary, which Brienne understood. But at the same time... no one knew how long they'd be stuck here for. To avoid making connections with other people just because you didn't expect to keep them forever... She didn't quite know how to word it, but something about that notion struck Brienne as wrong. Ariadne clearly knew that she was giving up on getting home before her medication ran out. She clearly already adored that Eevee, and the Absol and Swablu for that matter. Making attachments was scary, because it meant handing over a piece of yourself that someone else could take away and hurt if they wanted. Brienne didn't know what she'd do if her Pokémon couldn't come home with her somehow, but it hadn't stopped her from loving them in the first place. Better to have loved and lost, et cetera. And that... that was something she found herself surprised to agree with, still, after all this time.

 _"And it's hard to dance with the devil on your back,"_ she sang,  
_"But given half the chance, would I take any of it back?_  
_It's a fine romance, but it's left me so undone..._  
_It's always darkest before the dawn._

 _"Shake it out, shake it out! Shake it out, shake it out! Ooo-oh-oh!_  
_Shake it out, shake it out! Shake it out, shake it out! Ooo-oh-oh!_  
_And it's hard to dance with the devil on your back,_  
_So shake him off! Ooh-oh-oh!"_

Brienne smiled as she slowed the tune down, and then noticed: Ariadne had abruptly stopped dancing, and was staring at her completely without expression.

Ariadne didn't emote much at the best of times - when she did, she seemed to do it deliberately, which could mean it was an affectation, or just something she had to consciously choose to do. In either case, it was the furthest thing possible from Shauna's bubbly outbursts, but not quite the same as Calem's projected mask of politeness. There was no intentional masking here, just not knowing what to say.

If she did have autism, diagnosed or not, it would make sense. Brienne didn't know much of anything about the disorder, but she did know it made communication difficult. But if she really wanted to get moving, Brienne had to make sure that the other girl felt like she could trust her. And with someone like Ariadne, you couldn't just _say_ so.

 _"And I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't,"_ Ariadne sang suddenly, wavering but clear. Brienne played another measure on her guitar and urged her to continue. _"So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my rope."_ Ariadne swallowed carefully, and her hand drifted upward to where her belt resided under her hoodie—to her pokéballs. _"I'm ready to suffer... and I'm ready to hope..."_ Tears pricked at Ariadne's eyes, and Brienne was surprised to feel a similar sting in her own. _"It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat, 'cause looking for heaven found the devil in me..."_

 _"Looking for heaven found the devil in me,"_ Brienne echoed, and held her breath for a long moment. _Please, let her understand me..._

Ariadne smiled and... laughed? That was absolutely a laugh! _"Well, what the hell."_

Remembering the high pitched tune the Swablu had sang earlier that made Ariadne so calm, Brienne released a high, bell-like note, and then another, rising up into her own _canto_ above Ariadne's melody.

_"I'll let it happen to me."_

~*~

Brienne shouldered her bag and rolled her neck in an attempt to loosen the muscles. It really was time to go. She had most of a day of walking to get through before she hit Shalour City around sunset, if she was lucky and made good time.

That, and there was _yet another_ cave ahead of her.

Dresden stood by her side, the Braixen bouncing slightly on his toes. It was his turn to spend most of the day with his trainer. She rotated them, and it made everyone—including their trainer, who was honestly at a loss on how she was doing so well—feel that they were getting equal time and attention.

She turned to face the only other person she’d met from the same world as herself.

“All right, I’m out of here. ‘Naya won’t stop mentally badgering me.” She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, before grinning widely.

Ariadne had her long braids pulled back behind her shoulders and a grin that showed more in her eyes than her mouth. She honestly looked happier and more at ease than Brienne had ever seen her.

"Thank you, Brienne," she said, gesturing to the tiny bundle of gray fluff in her arms. "For her. And for... you."

The blonde’s wry grin softened into a true smile and she reached up to put her hands on the black girl’s shoulders. “Ari. If you ever need _anything,_ give me a call. I will drop what I’m doing to help, all right? Seriously, point me in a direction and I generally barrel through nearly anything resembling an obstacle. Maid of Rage, remember?” She squeezed Ariadne’s shoulders.

Or at least tried to. The other girl pushed through the touch and grabbed her in a one-armed hug around her lower back, just remembering to be careful of the baby Eevee in her arms.

Brienne squeaked in surprise, before sighing and returning the hug, cheek resting on the slightly taller girl’s shoulder.

The poor Eevee squirmed in surprise at two bodies getting kind of close to squishing it.

In the end, it was Brienne who broke the hug. “See you later, Ariadne Willow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first.  
> Lyric Credits: "Shake It Off" by Florence and The Machine  
> Credit to Key of looking-through-time.tumblr.com for French translations -huuuuuug-  
> And that wraps up the first trip to Geosenge, ladies and gentlemen. Geosenge was always going to be one chapter. I simply never expected it to grow this big. Newbie writers, be told: This is what happens when you write. Your characters steal your keyboard, run away with it, and write the story for you. It can be very unexpected.   
> This chapter, my showcase goes towards HakureiRyuu. The links are at the bottom of the last chapter of this story (for whatever point in time you're reading this.) Title: A Tablespoon of Feather. Go give her some attention, she deserves it.   
> Next chapter: Reflection Cave, and time for a painful reminder.


	15. Heaven Waiting There For Me; Just A Dose of Reality.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home is where the heart is. Where is Brienne's heart?  
> Here is a rather hard-to-ignore reminder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fast little chapter to this update.
> 
> I wish to inform all my readers that "Eyes of the Beholder" was a victim of the Ebooks Tree mess that was discovered on April 13th. (Not the way I wanted to spend my Homestuck day, let me tell you). If you see this story anywhere else but here, on Archive of Our Own, please let me know so I can report it to the proper authorities. 
> 
> Quick reminder. Bold and italics is Kanaya's mindspeech. Italics and underlined is Dirk's. Bold, italics, and with those pointy parenthesis at either end is the Lucario's, and italics with asterisks at either end is Dresden's. Glubby gets the horrorterror text by zalgo.com. If you have a hard time reading it, let me know!

It was because she was so determined to make tracks out of the town that had put her into psi-induced unconsciousness that she ran into Korrina.

Literally.

The ground on the western end of route eleven was very, very hard.

“Ow.”

“Hey, where are you going in such a hurry? It’s a great day out!” The athletic blonde’s face appeared in Brienne’s line of sight, interrupting her view of the sky. “Hey wait a minute, I recognize you! You’re that girl one of my Lucario were so interested in!” She reached down and manhandled Brienne back into a standing position, briskly patting the dust off her back.

“Thanks, and, um, yeah?” Both Lucario were standing behind their trainer, but somehow the newly-discovered psychic knew exactly which Lucario had spoken with her. Their eyes met just past Korrina’s left.

“This is great! I can ask you for a battle this time! You look like you’ve gotten totally stronger than you were before. How many badges do you have? Are you doing the League challenge?”

Brienne, who could be a babble-mouth herself when excited, was blown away by this girl’s enthusiasm. “Two badges. I just beat Grant….a week ago? Time’s a little blurry for me.”

“Oooooh. Definitely stronger. Yeah, let’s battle.” Korrina grinned and motioned the Lucario who hadn’t seemed intrigued by Brienne forwards.

“Oookaaay?” She hadn’t said yes or no, Korrina’s personality simply steamrollered right over her ability to inject her own opinion. But, eh, it was a battle. And the second Lucario’s eyes were sharp on her. There was something in the gaze that made her _want_ to show off.

She faced the first Lucario, mind flashing back to when she had first looked up the Pokémon—not long after her first encounter with one on route five. They were steel and fighting types. Well, she had the perfect counter to that.

“Dresden, let’s go!” The fire and psychic type grinned and strode in to place, slamming the end of his staff on the ground twice.

He’d been looking forward to his first battle of the day, and there wasn’t that much to burn in the local area.

Dresden’s excitement for battle was well and truly broadcasted to his trainer, who couldn’t help but grin herself. “Ready when you are, Korrina!”

“Awesome. Lucario, Swords Dance!” Korrina shouted.

Brienne blinked in mild surprise as the Lucario went into a fast and precise pattern of movement, a thin aura of blue light glowing around the lupine Pokémon.

“Huh. Okay. Dresden, Double Team! Let’s not make it easy!” The fire fox barked once and blurred into a circle of copies, surrounding his opponent. Sadly, Dresden was not as fast as Dirk or his sister, but he tried and his speed was nothing to sneeze at.

The Lucario’s dance ended and it growled at the copies, eyes bouncing from one to the other as he searched for the original.

“Think you can trick us with that? Not gonna fly. Use Power-Up Punch!” The Lucario’s fist lit with blue flames and it lunged directly into the stream of copies, the attack blasting through each of them until it slammed into Dresden himself.

Dresden took the attack head-on, reeling back, but reached up and smacked the steel/fighting type upside the head with his longer-than-normal staff. It barely did anything damage-wise, feeling more like a gentle slap, but it made the Lucario glare in annoyance and Dresden grinned.

“Good! Fire Spin!” The dark grin on Brienne’s face was equal to that of the one on her Pokémon.

The fire-fox took a deep breath as he planted same said staff hard on the ground, and blew at the tip. It ignited with a ‘whoomph’ of blue fire that quickly turned red and curled around the Lucario, controlled by Dresden’s psychics.

Korrina grit her teeth. “Metal Sound, wide-spread! Then Feint!” The Lucario brought his paws together, palms inches apart, and ran them in counter-clockwise circles. The sound that quickly grew was like a crystal glass performance gone very, very wrong, and both Dresden and Brienne winced in pain. The fire growing closer to the Lucario with every second wavered, and it took the opportunity to jump through the flames.

It still got burned, but the damage was less than if he had let the attack hit him full on. Out of the fire, it lunged for an attack that did more damage to Dresden’s pride than his endurance.

Both trainer and fire-type snarled. “Psybeam!”

The psi-attack shot out of the tip of Dresden’s staff, variant colors concentrated into a thin beam that slammed into the Lucario.

For the Lucario’s credit, it took the attack well, falling into a roll and coming back up on its feet.

“Keep it at a distance! Fire spin again!” Flames arrowed into the Lucario only a little bit slower than the psybeam had, and the Lucario howled.

“Power-Up Punch one more time!” Korrina called, knowing the fire attack had done a lot of damage.

Brienne simply snarled and pointed. Dresden knew exactly what to do. Psybeam slammed into the Lucario’s fist, causing a small explosion and smoke to go everywhere.

When the smoke cleared, Dresden was still standing tall, the Lucario down to one knee and head bowed.

Korrina nodded. “Okay. Good job, Lucario, come back now.”

“Great job, Dresden!” She hummed, and Dresden’s satisfaction answered back in her mind.

“Ready for round two?” Korrina asked, stance wide.

“Oh yeah!” Who would she let out to fight? Kanaya or Saturn? She honestly wanted to give Saturn’s new form a real test, and a fight like this would do the job, but Lucario were resistant to grass, it simply wasn’t a smart move…

Korrina’s second Lucario shook his head, paw raised, and he walked past the battlefield to stand in front of Brienne directly. He was not going to test her through a fight. He had just watched one. He didn’t need another, at least not right away.

Korrina pouted. “Awwww…but all right.”

Brienne tilted her head, not at all surprised this Lucario wanted another mental talk. “Hi again,” She smiled.

The Lucario nodded in greeting and held his paw out once again. This time, the girl took it without hesitation.

~*~

The landscape they met in this time was a good bit more developed than the first, the ground an expansive grassland with a gentle breeze bending the blades, bordered on all sides by distant tall hills. The sky was a clear blue, with a few large puffy and while clouds. Shadows oozed in the distance along the hills, creeping down to their bases. Neither girl nor Lucario could tell if the hills were simply covered in tall trees or not.

 ** _“ <Well, you have certainly been busy since I have last seen you. This is a very good sign.>” _**The Lucario closed his eyes and sighed, his thin shoulders dropping as he relaxed.

“You know, I haven’t even consciously done anything? Even after learning I’m psychic. This just…is.”

 ** _“ <That is all right, if you haven’t done anything consciously. Your unconscious always handles the base frame.>” _**He looked around, taking in the whole scene. **_“ <You may want to work on shielding. You have some. That’s what those hills in the distance mean. But…everything is very open right now. More-so than what I’ve heard is normal. You may be very receptive to empathic messages. And as for details, that is for you to work on. Sort memories, instincts, build defenses.>” _**He shrugged.

“Okay. Guess this means I need to learn to meditate.” She smiled sheepishly.

The Lucario nodded. **_“ <Yes. It would help.>” _**

“You know, you’re the first person to give me advice since I learned I was psychic? Admittedly I haven’t told many, but it’s not exactly obvious on who to talk to…” She sighed.

**_“ <Most psychics, if they are not travelling trainers, will go to Anistar City for instruction. It is a draw for psi abilities and tourists alike, perhaps something to do with the great sundial the city is founded around.>”_ **

“And _this_ is what I wish people would tell me.” She sighed. “I wish Anistar wasn’t on the opposite side of the region. From what I remember, it’s going to be my second-to-last badge battle.”

**_“ <Ah. Well, for now, you can work on building your defenses until you get to Anistar. That is the most important part. When you meditate, think of coming here, and once you are, imagine that perhaps those hills are getting taller, or that trees grow thick and strong and close together, in a way that makes it hard to get past. The method best suited to you will come to you naturally.>”_ **

“All right. I’ll remember that. Thank you.” She peered closely at the Lucario, and her brow furrowed. “You know, I keep wanting to assign you a name. I know it’s convention to simply call you by your species’ name, but…you’re talking with me. Hell, you’re _teaching_ me. Everything in me wants to call you by your own personal name. You are…” She struggled for a moment with the word. “Person, more than just creature.” She motioned metaphorically behind her. “The others feel the same way to me. I…they were people from the get-go. Even Saturn.”

The Lucario stared in shock. **_“ <That…There are those who think similarly, but the thought is not common yet. I thank you for the compliment. I have not considered a name for myself, having always been content with ‘Lucario.’ Korrina can tell my brother and I apart, and that is enough. I shall consider one. And I would be honored if you did as well.>” _**The Lucario’s eyes squinted in a way that implied he was smiling.

Brienne smiled back. “I will.”

**_“ <Time to go. I will see you soon, Brienne of Vaniville.>”_ **

“Huh? Last time, you called me Brienne of Frederick!”

~*~

The Lucario stepped back and bowed, briefly, before returning to his trainer.

“Wow. He _really_ likes you.” She grinned. “I like you, too, Brienne. I can’t wait to see you take on my gym in Shalour City! You might find more than you’re expecting, there. Looking forward to it!” She motioned, and spun on her skates, dashing past Brienne into Geosenge, her two Pokémon following.

Both Brienne and Dresden them watched them go.

“Huh. All the more reason to go to Shalour, then.” She grinned. “You ready for more, Dres?”

The Braixen swamped her with excitement.

~*~

Route eleven to Shalour City had a slow incline east, marking a slow journey back onto higher ground. Shalour City itself was a built on ground that went straight from cliff-side to ocean, and the path there was mostly through what was locally called ‘Reflection Cave.’

Yet another cave.

Dammit.

She and Dresden were not far from the cave when they came across the first outcropping of crystal the cave was supposed to be full of.

The two eyed it, before Brienne shrugged. “You don’t have a headache or anything, do you?” She asked her partner. Dresden shook his head emphatically.

“Okay then.” She poked it, staring warily. Nothing. She poked it again, and then a third time, before she let her palm rest against it.

The crystal, a clear shining light blue, tapered into a thin point at the top, hummed in response. Brienne squeaked and jerked her hand away, startled. “Oh, _now_ you do something weird. You take full contact, do you?”

Dresden tapped it with his staff, peered intently at it, and put his own paw on it, and once again the crystal hummed.

Dresden shrugged and cooed. It was safe enough.

“If you say so.” She still didn’t touch it again. “C’mon, we’ve got a cave to get through, and not enough hours in the day.”

Brienne paused, feet from the cave as her breath caught in her throat. She’d been steadily ignoring the fact that she was about to spend a good chunk of time, once again, underground. She felt the faint aftertaste and grit of sand in the back of her mouth, sending a shudder down her spine. All told, _she did not want to go in there._

Her hand brushed over Gl’bgolyb’s pokéball, a weak echo of giggles and cold washing over her mind. Did she need to bring the small squid out? She already had Dresden. She could do this. She could.

Two more crystal spires guarded the entrance to Reflection Cave, and they both hummed as the pair passed them and walked into the cave itself.

Light from the sun hanging in the western part of the sky bounced into the cave, and beams of bright rays were thrown all over, lending the path a dim luminescence. Shadows grew and were distorted and split, reflections of the travelers morphed and twisted, a fun-house of sight. The cavern walls were smoothly polished in some places, roughly ground in other, creating a choppy, broken mirror.

It wasn’t as breathtaking as Glittering Cave had been, but it was still more than she’d ever seen back home, or heard of.

If only it wasn’t a _cave._

She could still think. The world wasn’t falling in around her.

“Dresden, think you can light the way?”

The snort she got in reply was all the answer she needed, as more beams of light bounced around the reflective crystal, throwing an orange hue to the natural blue glow.

_“Ma’am, tell me again, when was the last time you saw your daughter?”_

Brienne froze, before spinning around in a circle for the source of the male voice. “Hello?”

Dresden looked at her oddly.

“What, I heard someone.” She huffed, and glanced around again for another person in the cave with them.

They were pretty much the only people there.

It wasn’t long, maybe an hour, before another voice caught Brienne’s attention.

_“Please, if anyone’s seen Brienne, let the police know. She wouldn’t run away. She’s five foot three, has blonde hair and hazel eyes…”_

That had been her Dad’s voice. “Dad?” Her heart was in her throat. “Dad, are you here? Daddy?” She swallowed.

_“I miss her too, Mr. Smith. But, last I saw her was the day before the sleepover. I couldn’t go. I had to work late that night.”_

Jeff? Why was she hearing Jeff? Had he been dragged here, too? Oh if he had…! “JEFF! Oh god, Jeff, are you here?”

Silence, for once.

Tears in her eyes, Brienne ran further into the cave. “Daaaaaad! Jeff! Where are you?”

Her voice echoed against the polished walls of the cave, before fading into nothing. No one replied.

_“St. Nicole, please, guide me to my daughter…”_

“…Mom?” The word squeaked at the end.

Another voice reached her ears, and this time both her and her Braixen heard it. _“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, from the earth we come, to the earth we return…”_

“...Who died…?”

Dresden turned, and with one paw pointed to a far wall, eyes wide, broadcasting sheer shock.

The wall was ten feet of polished blue crystal, a near perfect natural mirror, the only few flaws in it at the edges. The crystal shone, like some unknown god had taken a rag and gem polish to it, working it until they could see their reflection from a distance.

Brienne couldn’t admire the fantastic work of nature. She was too busy, shocked by the images she saw instead of her reflection. She ran for the wall until she nearly slammed into it, hands flat against the rock.

_A young man with brown, curly hair sat in a dentist’s chair, leaned over by a bald man with tattoos covering his head. The sound of quiet buzzing eased, and the second man leaned away from the younger’s bicep. “That how you want it?” The bald man asked, handing the younger a mirror._

_“Yeah. That’s exactly how I want it.” Jeff said quietly, his face wet and eyes red-rimmed._

“Oh, Jeff…A treble clef? You sap.” She sniffed, grinning weakly.

_“Want to get the name down now, or wait another week?” The tattoo artist asked._

_“Do it now.”_

_“Okay. Just thought you might want a break. Let me check the spelling one more time…”_

_Jeff met his eyes. “Brienne. B. R. I. E. N. N. E. She hated it when people called her Brittany.”_

_“A’ight.”_

The image of the parlor blurred, dimming into a living room that had seen cleaner days.

“That’s my house…” Her voice broke when she spotted her parents.

_“Emily, you have to eat something. She wouldn’t want you to waste away like this, and you know it.” A short, stout man knelt next to a couch, where a shorter blonde woman in her early fifties had curled up, hair lank, an old blanket over her shoulders._

_“Who CARES what she wanted! She’s dead, Ford! My baby’s gone. Who cares? She shouldn’t be gone! There’s absolutely no reason for it! But she is, so who cares?” The woman wailed, and tugged harder at the knitted blanket around her shoulders._

“Mom? Dad? I’m right here.” Brienne banged on the crystal, expecting a hollow rumble, anything to let them know she was right there, watching. There was a solid, meaty slap instead, and she gasped in pain at just how hard she had hit the mirror. “I’m _right here_!!!” She screamed hoarsely. She’d been here two months, and she hadn’t considered that it’d been two months back home, without a word from her.

She was gone from that world, in more ways than one.

Dresden watched from just behind his trainer, shocked, with no idea what to do.

_Ford sighed heavily and put his head to his wife’s. “I buried my mum, my father, and my daughter. I don’t want to bury you too.”_

Tears streamed down her face. “DADDY! Daddy, I’m right here. GODDAMMIT LET ME THROUGH! DADDY! MOM! I’M ALIVE, I’M RIGHT HERE.” She banged harder on the mirror, determined to break the damned thing and fall through to her parents. “MOMMY!”

Her forehead clunked painfully against the crystal as she pressed as close to it as she could. _“I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD WHATEVER DAMNED THING THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SHOW ME THIS WILL GET TORN APART WITH MY FUCKING BARE HANDS! DO YOU HEAR ME?”_

She screamed at the crystal again, vision blurred, palms slamming repeatedly against the wall. “God, I’m okay, mom, dad, I’m okay please please don’t cry I’m okay I’m trying so hard I’m coming home, okay? I love you so much I’m coming home I promise I promise god please I’m coming home I love you….”

The image went mute and slowly faded as Brienne watched, breathless. “I love you so much…”

It vanished, and all Brienne saw was her own tear-stained, snot-covered face.

She slid slowly to the ground and landed in a slump, lost and scared, fear piled on top of loss on top of ache on top of _just too much._

“They think I’m dead…” The throbbing in her hands went unheeded as she processed this simple thought. “Oh god. They think I’m dead…”

“God help me.”

She brought her knees up to her chin and keened, high and loud, for her family.

Dresden sat down next to her and hugged her, to no effect. She simply cried harder, gasping sobs in-between high-pitched wails. The Braixen glued himself to his trainer’s side, and wrapped both arms around her shoulders, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, cooing softly.

Three pokéballs shook and popped open. Kanaya, Dirk, and Saturn surrounded their shattered trainer, with Dresden at a complete loss as to what to do.

 ** _“Mom…I’ve got you Mom…”_** Kanaya shooshed as she cupped her trainer’s face, wiping away the tears. **_“Go ahead and cry. We’ll get you out of here.”_**

Dirk pressed a kiss to her head. _“Dresden, if you can, squirm into her lap. We can handle getting her out. Give her something warm and fuzzy to squeeze.”_

The fire-fox nodded and made it his new mission. It took some work, prying Brienne open enough to slip in, but he did it, and her arms clamped around him as she buried her face in the ruff of fur around his chest and shoulders.

Saturn nudged softly at his trainer, ruffling his plant, actively pulling a heady, soothing scent from it. “Saaauuur…”

The twins smiled softly. **_“Saturn, could you wrap your vines around her waist? You’ll have to pull her out. We can levitate her, but concentrating on floating her and direction at the same time? Still a little over our heads.”_** Kanaya sighed. **_“Trust me, I wish I could do it all myself.”_**

“Saur.” The grass type snuck both vines around his trainer’s waist, at her belt, and for extra safety, at her shoulders as well. He was very glad he’d evolved not too long ago.

_ “Right. Time to get OUT of here. What is even WITH this place? We’re NEVER coming through here again. Lumiose City better get its shit together.” _

With the twins holding hands as they concentrated, Brienne slowly rose up off the cave floor a few inches, more than enough to clear any obstacles they may come across.

Brienne herself knew her Pokémon coming through for her once again, but it hurt too much to respond.

Saturn tensed and pulled, and his trainer—along with accompanying comfort Pokémon—came along fairly easily, the Kirlia twins eliminating a lot of drag. There was still over one-hundred fifty pounds to pull, but he was easily strong enough to handle it.

Shalour City was at the other end of this cave and he was gonna make sure his trainer got there.

Caves were absolutely bad news at this point, he’d decided.

“Saaaauuuuur!”

~*~

The sun was very low in the sky when the group finally exited the cave, and both brother and sister were exhausted, but proud they’d gotten their trainer out. Saturn was ready to nudge his trainer all the way to the Pokemon Center if he had to. And Dresden had finally gotten Brienne to stop crying, and she was dozing softly, her head pillowed on his middle. He didn’t mind too much.

Dirk and Kanaya set Brienne down on the thickest patch of grass they could find just outside the cave. Saturn approved, and unwrapped his vines, snuggling up next to his trainer’s side. At this point he smelled very strongly of lavender and chamomile.

Kanaya rubbed at her face. **_“Dirk, you think you can run to the Center and get someone? Shauna, or Tierno and Trevor if they’re there? Tierno’s strong enough to pick her up. She needs someone.”_**

_ “Yeah. Back soon, you’ll barely even know I was gone.” _

The Kirlia sped off towards town, glad of the fact he’d trained so hard on speed and endurance.

~*~

Tierno sat in the Pokémon Center lobby, foot tapping to the beat stuck in his head. His team had gotten really, really good at their current routine, and he was thinking of a performance date. His team would be so excited when he let them know their practice was about to pay off! He grinned to himself, and his eyes caught the digital clock on the wall.

_7:30p.m._

It was starting to get really late. He’d seen Shauna and Calem; they had come into the Center at roughly the same time, and were spending the night out, catching up. Shauna had looked a little pale, but happy. Calem had promptly shown off both badges, and said that Brienne should be making an appearance tonight, as soon as her short legs would let her.

Tierno was starting to think those two were flirting. Shauna had simply rolled her eyes.

Trevor was running around the town, catching ‘dex scans of Pokémon that lived in the town, and any that trainers had out. He multitasked on runs like this, getting the lay of the city and mentally marking interesting places to go, later.

They made a good team. Trevor was fantastic when it came to getting around in cities, and Tierno helped him train, and hunt for Pokémon while they traveled on routes. They didn’t need to catch many, it was enough to see them all.

Tierno broke out of his musings when a Kirlia practically ran smack-dab into where he was sitting, waiting for Brienne to arrive. He’d wanted to ask if Brienne would perform for his dance recital. He was half sure she’d say yes.

The Kirlia was seriously panicked. “Hey, what’s wrong? Where’s your trainer?” Another perk of working with Trevor; he knew what Pokémon were and weren’t local to every area.

The Kirlia grabbed his pant leg and tugged, hard.

“Whoa, you want me to go with you? Okay.”

“Kirlia! Kir!” The psychic-type huffed, stomped a foot, and rolled its eyes, before forcibly taking his hand. _“Brienne needs help, hurry up and follow me, would you?”_

“Oh my god, you’re Lady Bri’s? Lead the way, I’m right behind you!” The two sped out the front doors.

~*~

The sun had just set when Dirk and Tierno arrived at the Shalour City exit to Reflection Cave. To say that Tierno was surprised when he caught an Ivysaur and a second Kirlia guarding a curled up Brienne with a Braixen in her arms was a complete understatement.

“What _happened?_ ” The two tense Pokémon parted slightly, enough to give him room to crouch at Brienne’s side. The short blonde was tense, her face a mess, but she was breathing evenly.

The Braixen in her arms watched him just as warily as the other two, before slowly bringing his paw up to Tierno’s face.

The feeling of extreme softness and care practically pushed him onto his rear end. He nodded.

“I’ll be gentle, promise.” He whispered, and brought the back of his hand to Brienne’s cheek, stroking it with a knuckle. “Brienne, wake up, please? I need to know you’re okay.”

The twenty-year-old tensed up even more, if that was possible, and whined softly. “…Dad?”

“No, Bri, it’s Tierno…”

She woke up the rest of the way, eyes wide in the growing darkness. “Tierno?” Her voice was scratchy and raw. “Where am I? What’s going on?”

“You’re just outside Shalour City. Your Kirlia brought me here, they wanted my help. What happened?” He kept his voice low. She didn’t act quite all there, blinking rapidly and her breath shallow. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she’d gone through something violent and was still processing it.

“I…I saw…” Her voice broke into a whine and she shuddered, before shaking her head. “I can’t.”

“Hey, it’s all right. I’m here to help you out, okay?” He gave the Braixen a scratch between the ears, which it seemed to appreciate. “I’m gonna carry her to the Center. Do you want to get back into your pokéball or walk with us?”

The Braixen slowly squirmed out of his trainer’s hold and the Ivysaur next to her nudged her towards him.

Brienne herself reached out warily towards Tierno, like she was afraid he was going to suddenly vanish.

He put one arm around her back, and hers went around his neck. “Ready?”

She nodded jerkily.

His free arm went under her legs and then he lifted.

Huh. He must be stronger than he thought. That, or Brienne was a whole lot lighter than she looked.

“Time to go. You all following on foot?” He craned his head to see her four Pokémon.

They all nodded.

He headed back the way he came, girl in his arms and Pokémon at his feet.

~*~

**_“Is Mom okay now?”_ **

_ “Yeah, she’s all right. Tired, wrung out, and pretty much done for the night, but she’s okay. That…mirror in the cave was just a little much for her.” _

_“*It was her mom. Her mom was really sad. Why?*”_

**_“…Brienne’s not from here, Dresden. REALLY not from here. She grew up in a place without Pokémon. And that world is very far away. There…we think it was an act of one of the Gods. They took her from her home without warning. And while I don’t want her to leave, I would not blame Mom if she went back home one day soon.”_ **

_“*Oh. That was wrong of them. I see. Did the Gods show her that in the mirror because they are bad?*”_

_ “The Gods have never been cruel. Angry at times, yes, but never actively cruel. That couldn’t have been them.” _

“̢Such͡ ҉cḩi̛ldręn͟. ̧I̵ wơnde͟r͝.”͜

**_“What do YOU want?”_ **

“͏Th͡i̴s ̷W̡orl̶d ̴i̛s ̴ver̸y͞,̧ ver͏y bi̛g͠.̴ ͠Y͡ou a̡r̴e ti̛ny̸. ́I ̛am̷ t͝in͜y͞. W̴ȩ are t̨iny̕…A͝rceu͜s is ͡n̶ot s̢ma͝ll̡.͠ ̀The W͠or͏ld is b̸i̴gg͏e̴r than ̛H͟e.”́

**_“If I wanted an existential discussion, Glubby, I would find a Gothitelle.”_ **

“You̴ ͠do͝ ̀n̶ot҉ s̛e̢e.̵ ̧Sa͡d͞,̢ fór one ͜w̢h̛o͞ ̨gr̛oẁs͠ ̴in̨t͞o Se͏éin̢g m̧u̢c͢h.͟”̨

_ “’Naya, I know she sets off all your alarms, but let her speak for once. You know she’s older than all of us AND Mom, combined. And then some.” _

**_“Fine. But only because I want to find whatever did this and show it their insides.”_ **

“͘T̴h͜is ͘W̵orld̢ ͞ís͏ ̸b̡i͟g͡. ̴Ít͟ ́ìs ̧not ̨just r̶o̡c͘k ̸a̢nd ̀w̢a̷t̡er͠ and̶ ͢s͞ky̸. Th̡e̢r̕e a͡re͡…p̸at͡h҉w̸a͘y͏s.̶ ̕Sma̸ll̵ ҉cra͝ck̸ş.̡ L͠i̢g҉ht ́re͢fle͢c͏t̸e͝d͝.̶ Ţhe҉ ͝ca̕ve s̶im͠p͜ĺy͟ ̨re͞v͘eaĺed͠.͜”̧

**_“So it was a fluke? We just happen to be in the right place in the right time? Then why did Mom see her parents, and her friend?”_ **

“She i̛s̢. ̡W͢i͢ļl d̡ete͞r̢m҉i͠ne̷s ͘D͡es͞t̸i̢ny.͜ ̧H͞er ̀mind͏ ͜ref̡le͞c̵t͟s h͝o͜me̛. ͏H͠o̢m̵e̷ ̴wa҉s̵ refle̶ct̀e̵d̀.”́

_ “She misses home. Ariadne brought it back to the forefront of her mind. She’d been able to ignore it, even forget about it.” _

_“*We are not home?*”_

_ “No, not yet. We’re family, but we’re not HOME.” _

_“*We need to be home. We very much NEED to be Home. If Brienne does not have Home, she will not be happy. Safe.*”_

**_“…We’re working on it, Dres. We’re working on it.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short little painful chapter today. Thought I'd just leave a dose of reality for Bri, and you readers.   
> Next post in a month, at latest!
> 
> Leave a comment below!


	16. "...I Slept In Last Night's Clothes and Tomorrow's Dreams But They're Not Quite What They Seem..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Shalour City! The group is finally all in one place once again, and they get the chance to see how each has changed since Santalune City. Also, the mystery of Mega-Evolution is explained!

She woke to a knocking on her door and the sound of someone slipping into her room.

“Hey, I heard you had a rough time getting here…” They spoke quietly, in respect for once of waking her up early.

Brienne blinked, and rubbed blurry eyes to clear the sleep away. “Shauna?” She sat up, running her eyes over the girl in front of her to rid herself of the disbelief. Her hair was in two simple pigtails now, starting at the nape of her neck and tightly braided. The tunic-length blouse she wore was the same color as her eyes, belted at the waist, and white leggings with matching strappy sandals completed the ensemble.

“Hey, sleepyhead. It’s good to see you again!” Shauna bounced just a little bit on her toes, smile lighting up her face as the corners of her eyes crinkled.

 _“Shauna,”_ Brienne breathed, and launched herself from the bed to glomp the other girl. “Oh god, I missed you.” She mumbled into the taller girl’s shoulder, arms wrapped tight around her waist.

“Hey, Bri…I missed you too.” She pressed a kiss to the blonde’s hair gently, and took her time pulling away, nose buried in blonde hair.

“I should have called you while you were gone, I can’t believe I didn’t, I’m so sorry.” Her hands came to rest on Shauna’s waist as she pulled away. “Uhg! I missed you _so_ much!” Her smile lit up her face. “And, while great for driving me on, I had to deal with Calem.”

Shauna giggled. “What, did he finally out-snark you?”

“He wishes. No, Calem was not as bad I make it out to be.” She rolled her eyes.

“Told you.” A kiss landed on Brienne’s forehead, and even though she knew to expect it, she still blushed.

An extremely large yawn escaped the just-woken girl. “Nhhr. Did you bring me coffee?”

Shauna snorted. “Is that it? You say hello and then ask me for coffee? Is that how this relationship is going to go?”

She received a mild glare for her troubles. “You woke me up! And, sadly, I fell off the wagon of your carefully-made sleep schedule. I need coffee to function, unless you want me to fall back into bed and not come out until one.” The whine that came out of Brienne was just toeing the line of pathetic.

“You got off-schedule? Oh, Bri, now I’m gonna have to get you back on the hard way…” Shauna sighed and put a hand to her cheek.

“Coffee. Or sleep. Preferably with you joining me.” She grumped.

Shauna chuckled. “Coffee. Got a really big cup waiting for you. Go get dressed, Bri.”

“Mmmm…Coffee. Clothes. Right. I have some, somewhere…” A hand stuck itself in her hair as she tried to jumpstart her thinking process. Shirts went on with the tag in the back, right…?

“…You’re not going to shoo me out?” Shauna blinked and watched the sleepy girl shuffle around.

“…Why should I? You _don’t_ want a peek?” Brienne’s grin was sly.

Shauna went pink.

~*~

Brienne didn’t tune into the conversation until she had downed her coffee. As this was pretty much standard procedure with her, the four others of their group did not mind all that much. Patiently waiting was better than getting mostly grunts simply because her brain wouldn’t turn on without either a jolt of caffeine or adrenaline.

Didn’t mean Calem would let her get away with it without a jab.

“Finally come online, have you?” Calem drawled, leaning back in his chair

Trevor leaned over to whisper in Tierno’s ear. “They’re starting again.”

Tierno frowned and brought his hand up to his mouth to cover his whisper. “Why do they flirt like this? Is it some sort of ritual?”

Trevor’s eyes went calculating. “I’m not sure this is flirting. They’re _insulting_ each other. Constantly.”

Brienne grinned. Let the match begin. “Yes, I have, thank you. One-hundred percent of the hard drive ready to go, unlike the poor, poor seventy-five your brain can pump out, regardless of the fact you wake up right away. I wonder how you function most days.”

Shauna, catching wind of Tierno and Trevor’s conversation, leaned in as well. “Yeah, it’s flirting. They think the other riled up is cute. I have to admit, it is.”

Both boys eyed Shauna in shock.

Calem made the scoring hit in their match-off. “Perfectly well, seeing as I continue to get gym badges before you do. Grabbed the third badge yesterday.”

Brienne almost visibly deflated. Geosenge had eaten a _lot_ of time. “Won’t believe it ‘till you put your money where your mouth is, big boy.” She had to smirk. He may be ahead but she wasn’t gonna let him walk with that point.

The badge case slid smoothly out of Calem’s pocket, and it opened with a snap. “Three badges. Two I believe you’re familiar with, the third—not so much.” The look on his face was honest pride. The stare from his eyes was ‘better fucking catch up.’

Oh _hell yes_ was she going to catch up. “What’s the gym specialty?” She asked, curious.

“Fighting. Leader Korrina specializes in fighting-types. They,” he grinned. “They pack a punch.”

Shauna snorted softly. Calem was trying really get her dander up, wasn’t he?

“You did _not_ just pun at me.” The disbelief was quickly giving way to mock offense. “Oh my god, you just punned at me!” The short blonde rose up out of her chair in a huff, giving her best princess attitude. “Pun-meisters are beneath my notice. Tierno, Trevor, are you coming? I do believe you said something about a dance recital you needed a pianist for?”

Tierno stood, but Trevor remained in his seat. “I, ah…”

“I’ve got him for the next couple hours, Bri!” Shauna answered, wrapping both arms around one of Trevor’s in a death grip. The red head seemed a mix of bemused and fond of this action. “He knows where all the shops are, and I wasn’t paying attention last night!”

“A’ight. Have fun, hon.” She waved, and motioned to Tierno to catch up.

Calem simply chuckled. “Meet up after lunch at the Tower of Mastery! We can finally get Sycamore’s errand done with!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve better dropped the puns by then!” Brienne quipped over her shoulder.

“You wish!” He answered back.

Everyone else rolled their eyes.  

~*~

Brienne let Tierno lead the way, having only arrived in the city last night, and took in the colors of the city as she walked. The cliffs of the mountain that Reflection Cave resided in dropped away to low-lying sandy soil, beaten hard by ages of storms and unceasing tidal waves. The smell of the sea settled the blonde, pinging old memories of day-long family trips to the beach, with sand creeping into places there should never _be_ sand, and the wind off the coast whipping her hair into messes that took ages to comb out, strands stuck together with salt. She licked her lips, half-expecting to taste salt on her skin, and was quietly disappointed when she didn’t.

The gem of Shalour City was the Tower of Mastery itself. Rising up out of the low-tidal beaches of the coast, a great brick wall surrounded the tower and enough smaller buildings to consider it a fortress, the entrance only revealed when the ocean retreated from the sands. The tower itself was a twist of architecture, built in spiraling layers that seemed unfinished and caught the eye to smaller details and the way the light and shadows sunk into sides and corners. She couldn’t quite believe her luck that they’d be getting _into_ that thing later today. It was gorgeous. The late morning sun lit the whole fortress up and made it _gleam._

Tierno led them to a small side-street of shops, one of which held a music store at first glance. Shalour was big enough to have a fairly wide variety of choices. Before going in, however, he stopped and faced his friend, gentle concern written on his face.

“What’s up?” Brienne tilted her head in confusion.

“Are you all right, going from town to town?” Tierno didn’t exactly beat around the bush. He was enthusiastic about dance, and all the dances Pokémon could do themselves, but his friends _mattered_.

“Yeah, I think I’m doing well enough. Why do you ask?” She shrugged and readjusted her weight onto one hip, slipping her hands into her pockets.

“Finding you curled up on the ground outside Reflection Cave was one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen, Bri. I’m a little worried.” Tierno shifted, but his eyes were solidly focused on the girl in front of him.

“Oh. That.” She sighed, and searched for the right words to reassure him. “I got a little bit of a shock, is all.”

Tierno’s voice went flat. “You were on the ground and fairly non-responsive. I got a few mumbles out of you. That’s more than ‘a little bit of a shock.’”

Her lips thinned. “I can handle this. It’s just something I’m not used to and I got very surprised.”

“It’s okay to ask for help. Trevor and I would love it if you joined up with us. You don’t have to travel alone.”

The offer was…a little tempting, she had to admit. But the rest of her brain practically _screamed_ ‘no no no!’ She did not need the rest of the group realizing just how much bloody weirdness followed her around. It was bad enough with Calem, the summer solstice ritual, and her fear of caves. “Thanks, but I’m all right by myself. I just got blind-sighted by Reflection Cave’s weirdness. Did you know there are _Sableye_ in there? Ghost-types are just plain weird.” She huffed.

Tierno was not satisfied with this. “Fine. But my offer still stands.”

“I’ll remember it.” She gave him a smile. “So, dance recital? Finally got something lined up, huh?”

The speed which Tierno turned bashful was amazing. “…Not really. I just wanted to perform for you guys, see how it went over, before I tried auditioning somewhere.”

“Yeah, I’d do that too. It’s smart. More pairs of eyes to catch something you might not have thought of.”

“Exactly! And as awesome as just watching a dance routine is, it needs music. And you’re fantastic at that. So could you help me out?”

“On two conditions. Help me find an electric piano to rent, and teach my Pokémon some of your moves. I’m sure I can incorporate them into my battle tactics, and well, I’ll need’em. I’ve got a gym battle coming up.”

Tierno smiled. “I can do that.”

~*~

“So you’ve got two Kirlia, a Braixen—good job on that, by the way, Dresden looks fantastic—an Ivysaur, and an Inkay. Well. You’ve certainly got the psychic-typing down pat. Are you _sure_ you’re not trying to be a psychic specialist?”

Brienne gave Tierno the stink-eye. “It just happened, okay? I was given the twins, Dresden was adorable and I couldn’t say no—oh don’t give me that look, you _were_ —and Glubby caught me, instead of the other way around.”

“Glubby?” Tierno asked.

“Short for Gl’bgolyb.”

“…I see why you use Glubby. Where did you even _get_ that name?”

The blonde raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever heard of H.P. Lovecraft?”

“Nope.” He shook his head.

“Then you _really_ won’t get the reference. Let’s just say it fits her and she likes it.”

Tierno nodded. “I can do that.” The look on his face underlined that he wasn’t going to argue. “What’s your team’s specialties right now?”

“Dirk and Kanaya are speedsters that are good at closing in quickly with the opponent. Dresden and Glubby are powerhouses so far, and Saturn…I haven’t worked with Saturn much. He prefers to let the opponent come to him, really.”

“Okay. I can work with that.”

Brienne grinned widely. “Awesome.”

“Let me see…” Tierno started to pace. “The twins are speedsters? Let’s give them some grace as they move, and make their actions more flowing. Gardevoir and Gallade are natural dancers, so it should come easily to them once we start.” His eyes moved the fire-fox. “Dresden’s a powerhouse? Let’s make him one that’s hard to hit, especially once he evolves again. He should take well to break-dancing, and the flexibility will give him more range.” He sighed. “Glubby floats, so I’m not exactly sure how to work that one. Maybe have her work with the twins as well.” He stopped in front of Saturn. “Speed is going to be hard for you in your final evolution. Let’s make it so that if you do have to take a hit, it’s almost always glancing, instead of straight-on.”

Brienne’s face hurt from grinning. This was going to work fantastically.

~*~

Lucky for them, low tide was just around one. The sandy path up to the Tower was damp under Brienne and Tierno’s feet, but solid, and the two of them squished their way up to slightly slimy brick stairs, and the much neater straight brick walk. The Tower itself was so much more intimidating up close, solid and steeped in ages of history. The slight blonde stopped just outside the entrance into the tower, her skin tingling like small sparks of static electricity were dancing and leaping from point to point.

“What’s wrong?” Tierno stopped, halfway in the shadow of the interior of the building.

She blinked at him. “Can’t you…” A motion to the stone the building was made of. “It tingles. There’s something there.”

“Really?” The young man put a hand on the stone. “You sure?”

“Oh yeah.” With a shake of her head and clenched fists, Brienne firmly stepped past the threshold of the tower, and joined her companion. The static electricity feeling spiked and faded, almost a simple trick of the mind. “Huh. Well then.” She shrugged.

The first thing that caught their attention was the absolutely giant statue of a Lucario, probably four stories in height, standing in a ready battle pose smack-center of the hollow inside of the tower. There was something _off_ about it, though. Lines around the eyes and face, slight flares to the body style that didn’t quite match up with what Brienne remembered from her pokédex’s example, or the two Lucario that she was starting to get very familiar with—in two very different ways. There was a staircase that spiraled up the tower against the wall, with a single masculine figure presumably standing guard at the bottom. 

The base of the statue held what had to have been a small room, green door embossed with a stylized DNA helix.

Brienne side-eyed Tierno.

Tierno side-eyed Brienne.

“I think we’re the first ones here,” she muttered.

“Yeap.”

“So, uh…Up or in?” She paused. “Or do we just wait right here?”

Tierno’s eyes followed the very high, and very long ramp all the way up the tower. “I say we knock.”

She held out a hand. “After you?” The grin on her face was wry.

“Yeah, yeah…” Tierno rolled his eyes but grinned, knocking firmly on the green door. It took a second, but there was a gentle click, and the door swung open to admit them both.

The two were ushered in to a small living space by a mostly balding old man, genteel smile on his face, and Brienne was surprised to see Korrina sitting on the bed in the back.

“Good to see you, Brienne! Though I thought you’d get here a little faster.” The active blonde grinned and waved, legs crossed at the knee and one foot swinging ever so gently in the air.

“Yeah, so did I. Got a little held up in Reflection Cave, but came out well enough.” Brienne herself shrugged, ignoring the look Tierno gave her.

The elder in the room raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment on that himself. “Welcome, both of you. Sycamore told me you would be coming; I’m an old acquaintance of his.” At this, the old man chuckled, forcing an eye roll from the girl on the bed.

“Grandpa! You said you’d keep the puns down.”

“But I am!” He huffed good-naturedly. “I’m the Mega-Evolution guru, my name is Gurkinn.”

“I’m Tierno. Bri’s reputation seems to have gotten here ahead of her, looks like.” The dancer pointed his thumb at his friend, whose ears turned pink in response.

“Shush you.”

Tierno had the most innocent face on. “Whhhhhhy?”

Korrina snickered from the back.

Gurkinn frowned. “Weren’t there supposed to be five of you?”

“Calem said to meet here after lunch. I guess we were just the first two to arrive.” Tierno shrugged.

Voices began to grow in the background as more people approached the inside of the Tower.

Brienne peered over her shoulder, through the still open door. “That’s them. We were just a little early,” she smiled.

~*~

Calem entered the Tower of Mastery bent over, Shauna on his back with her arms wrapped gently around his neck. Was she heavy? Yes. Was walking through town like this straight after lunch somewhat awkward? Yes, very much so. But he didn’t know how to tell her no, and honestly he didn’t mind so much. It was Shauna, and she hadn’t asked for a piggy-back ride in ages. He was very tempted to ask her what was wrong, but every time the chance came up, she either changed the subject or looked so horrible that he just couldn’t do it.

Trevor was just to his right, the camera in his hands not big enough to hide the wry grin on his face.

“Trevor, put the camera away.”

“Mmmm…Nope. Can’t do it.” His finger pushed down on a button.

Calem rolled his eyes. “How many pictures have you taken already?”

“Not enough.” The laugh in Trevor’s voice was obvious.

“Uh-huh. And just how many is enough?” At least the sun wasn’t in his eyes anymore. Thank you, Tower of Mastery for blocking out the sun.

“Oh, well, first there’s the scrapbook pictures…and then there’s the images Shauna wanted, and your mom wanted…”

“ _WHAT??”_

“Oh, yeah, your mom’s paying me to take pictures all the way through the trip. I get paid per image.”

Shauna laughed and patted his head. “I think you’ve been outwitted, Calem.”

He tried glaring two holes through Trevor’s head. It didn’t work, sadly.

“So, I finally get to brag that I got somewhere before you did, Calem. Have to admit, it’s a nice feeling.”

The beleaguered young man looked up from Trevor’s horribly smug-with-himself grin to see his newest friend and rival leaning back against a door frame, arms crossed and eyes alight. He snorted. “Had to happen sometime, Lalonde, as it’s a statistical improbability I’ll get everywhere first all the time.”

“And that’s what you’re gonna tell yourself when you continue to get second-place against me from now on, bucko.” Her attention moved upwards slightly. “Hi, Shauna. Enjoying the ride?”

“Yeap. He’s a little grumpy sometimes, but a quick cuddle takes care of that.”

Brienne’s face turned downright _sassy._ “I guess you get the best out of him. Seems to me if _I_ tried to ride him, I’d have a fight all the way through.”

She did not just say that. _She did not just say that._ He felt his eyes go wide, and the blood rush to his cheeks. He knew the blush wasn’t visible—thank goodness for fantastic genetics—but he had absolutely no comeback to that and she knew it.

Shauna slid off his back with little resistance—his hands had gone momentarily slack—and ran up to the blonde to give her a hug. Brienne squealed and buried her face into the crook of the taller girl’s neck. “We need to spend some more time together while we’re here. I missed you again.”

“How about the rest of the day, and I move into your room at the Center?” Shauna suggested.

“Sounds perfect,” Brienne said, drawing away from the hug, only to reach up and cup Shauna’s face, drawing her down for a long kiss.

_HOLY SHIT._

There was a quiet, but constant clicking sound from where Trevor was standing next to him. It took him a second to drag his eyes away from his long-time friend and rival kissing to glare down at him. “Are you _really_ taking pictures now?”

Trevor shrugged. “Shauna wanted pictures too.”

The two young women finally broke apart, with Shauna looking fairly blown away. Brienne hummed, and licked her lips. “Hi Trevor. Get any good ones?”

Calem stared. “You’re in on this?”

“’Course.” She grinned wide.

The redhead nodded and slipped his camera into his jeans’ pocket.

Tierno popped out from the small room Brienne had been standing in front of at the start. “Yo, everyone, we gonna get what we came here for?”

“Yeah. Just had to make the traditional opening salvo. And Shauna. Shauna is important.”

Shauna blushed.

He was still trying to give himself a reality check. When had Shauna decided to date Brienne? He was missing something here.

An older man exited the small room under the giant Lucario statue, followed closely by the local gym leader, Korrina. That was a surprise.

“Welcome. From Brienne and Tierno’s reactions, I can safely assume you are the rest of Sycamore’s pupils! I am Gurkinn, the Mega-Evolution guru. You are here to learn about Mega-Evolution, yes?”

“More or less,” Brienne shrugged. “He sent us out here to go research it for him.”

Gurkinn’s eyes glittered in amusement. “He already knows about it. I taught him myself. He sent you here so _you_ could learn about it.”

The look on her face was _not_ best pleased. “And he couldn’t tell us about Mega-Evolution in Lumiose City?”

“Professor Sycamore lives by the adage that hands-on experience is the best kind of experience. He knew that you would get first-hand lessons on the subject here.”

The blonde’s lips were pinched tightly shut. Calem could tell she was only keeping a stream of extremely loud invectives back by the thought that if she actually said them, she’d probably be kicked out, and that was no good.

Trevor spoke up, saving the air from turning blue in a barrage of creative insults. “So what exactly _is_ Mega-Evolution?”

“Well. You all know what evolution is. I have heard from my granddaughter that at least two of you have Pokémon that have evolved at least once, and perhaps are due to again.” Well. Leader Korrina was Gurkinn’s granddaughter. That explained a little bit about her style. “Mega-Evolution is where a Pokémon previously thought to be completely evolved, does so once again.”

 _“What?”_ The exclamation escaped him in his surprise.

Gurkinn nodded. “Yes. At this point in time, it is only a few specific Pokémon, and it requires large amounts of trust, and two very specific stones.”

There was an understanding squeak from Brienne, and a slight frantic scrambling as she shoved her hand into her side-bag, coming out with the stone Sycamore had given her back in Lumiose City.

“Yes,” he nodded. “That is one such stone that aids in Mega-Evolution.”

“Awesome.” She grinned, rolling the stone around in her hands.

“Sadly, Mega-Evolution is not permanent. The event usually lasts around the length of a battle, and then fades, the Pokémon reverting back to its previous form. Still, it is a great boost of power and stamina in any Pokémon that _can_ achieve Mega-Evolution, and solid evidence that the bond between Trainer and ‘Mon is at its strongest.” Gurkinn explained patiently.

“Okay…” Calem nodded. He wondered if Absol was one of the Pokémon that could Mega-Evolve. “What is the second stone needed?”

“That…is why, mainly, that Professor Sycamore sent you my way.” The old man sighed.

Korrina quickly took over. “What’cha need is a Keystone! And the thing is, they’re _rare._ Like, unbelievably rare. I have one, as the Mega-Evolution Successor, and a couple other people through Kalos have one. That’s it. We’ve been unable to do much in the way of research with them. We have one extra, though.” The grin on her face was wicked.

“Professor Sycamore persuaded me to give one of your group our spare Keystone. However, I do not know who to give it to. I would _like_ to give it to all five of you.” Another long sigh from the old man. “I cannot split one thing into five. It would make it easier if you could choose among you who would receive the Keystone.”

The feeling of eyes boring into his skull had him turn his gaze towards Brienne once again. Her hazel-green stare had locked onto him with all the intensity of a laser, and she’d pushed off from the doorway, shoulders back. Oh, that was all but asking for a battle. It was about time they had one against each other, too.

_Bring it on, Lalonde. I promise, you won’t find me an easy opponent._

~*~

Did Gurkinn really just declare open season over one shiny bauble? All right then. She’d take that offer by the horns, thank you very much. However, she appreciated the chance to challenge Calem to a fight even more. When they were by themselves, he seemed much more inclined to watch and simply comment. It was when there was a crowd that he got aggressive. There was a part of her that wanted to pit herself against that aggressiveness and not win, per say, but make him fight so hard they always came to a tie.

_Bring it._

A blink, and she remembered it would probably be polite to ask if Trevor, Tierno, or Shauna wanted in on this. It took a small measure of will to drag her gaze from Calem and look over the rest of the group. “Uh, guys, do any of you want it?” She scratched at her cheek.

Shauna bounced her sight between Calem and Brienne, giggled, and shook her head. “Nah, I’m good.”

It seemed the competitive spirit between the two League-Challenge trainers was palpable. Tierno and Trevor waved it off simultaneously.

Right then. She bared her teeth in a semblance of a grin and took a spot in what was quickly growing normal for her. She wasn’t sure if it was because there was about to be a battle in the Tower of Mastery or because she was so psyched up to battle Calem, but the sparks and tingles she felt entering were back, this time mostly centered on her spine, and a little bit on her palms.

Was this Aura? Who knew? She wasn’t going to bring it up right now. There was a battle to be had.

“What do you say to a three-on-three match, Remont? Substitutions allowed?”

She _loved_ the fact that the look on his face mirrored the one she felt on hers. “Good enough for me, Lalonde.”

“Korrina, could you do us a favor and ref the match?” Brienne asked.

“You bet! I want to see this just as much as you want to battle.” The fighting-type gym leader perked up and took her place evenly between the two trainers.

 _Oh, I don’t think you want to see it that much, Korrina._ She smirked.

Calem bristled. “Ready.”

“Hit me with your best shot,” the blonde taunted.

Korrina nodded. “Brienne versus Calem, a three-on-three match, substitutions allowed! Begin!”

“Go, Meowstic!”

“Saturn, let’s do this!” The two Pokémon materialized at about the same time, sharply facing the other down. Brienne let her eyes scan over what she knew had to be a psychic-type. Thank you, Trevor, for sharing your pokédex findings all the time.

It was a cat. A psychic-type _cat._ Why didn’t she have one of these?

And then it hit her, that as a part-poison type, Saturn was weak to psi-type attacks. Crap.

“Meowstic, psybeam!” The multi-colored attack flew at the grass-type, who was already moving and turning away. The attack hit the grass-type’s flank instead of dead-center on his forehead. It still threw Saturn for a loop, but it was better than all of the damage at once. Yeap. Those dance lessons with Tierno were already paying off.

He shook it off and growled at the cat, who simply waved his tales in response. “Okay, Vine Whip, Bam-Bam style!”

Calem stared. “Eh? Whatever, don’t let it hit you!”

The Meowstic already started to dodge, but Saturn was ready for that, his vines following the cat around, tripping it up before wrapping both around the cat’s middle. “Go!”

The Ivysaur strained a bit, spread his stance out a little more, and got the Meowstic up in the air with his vines despite the fact that Mewostic nearly weighed as much as he did. The Meowstic squeaked, a little bit confused by this turn of events. Saturn looked very smug for a moment, before bringing his vines—and the Meowstic—down very hard on the arena floor. He brought them up again, and started to use physics, spinning the Meowstic around a bit before slamming it repeatedly on the floor, knocking it for one hell of a loop.

On the fourth solid hit, Saturn stopped, panting gently, but refused to let the Meowstic out of his vines.

Calem winced. “Meowstic, Lightscreen, and then Psybeam again! I know you can do it!”

The Meowstic groaned and a shimmery plane sprung up in existence between the Ivysaur and itself, the psybeam taking a little time to charge. Saturn had really knocked it around.

Brienne frowned, this was probably gonna hurt like a bitch. “Charge it, Saturn! Take Down!”

“Saur!” The Ivysaur bunched his hindquarters and dashed forward, retracting his vines with the Meowstic at the same time. This attack was going to _hit._

The Meowstic’s attack hit him first, making his eyes cross and slowing him _way_ down. Didn’t matter, his vines were doing the rest of the job. Meowstic made solid contact with Saturn’s very hard skull and bent over double, all the air pushed out of its tiny body. Saturn’s vines finally released the cat and it flopped on all fours, well-battered but not out yet.

Saturn himself was busy shaking his head from a direct psybeam, trying not to let the spinning room tip him over.

“Saturn, Sleep Powder!” An attack he didn’t need to aim much, it floated over to the psychic-cat, and it dropped dead asleep, not much strength left to resist. “Good!” She paused, eyes locked on the cat. “One more hit Saturn, c’mon!”

He stopped shaking his head, focused, blinked hard a couple times, and focused again, before grinning with his two fangs. His vines shot out and smacked at the Meowstic, who didn’t wake up.

Korrina stared, nodded, and then raised her hand in Brienne’s direction. “Meowstic is unable to battle. The round goes to Saturn!”

Calem frowned and returned his first Pokémon. “Not bad. You handled the type-weakness well.”

Brienne grinned. “Would have gone differently if Meowstic was any bigger.” Her attention dropped to her Ivysaur. “Want to keep going, Saturn, or do you want to switch out?”

“…Saaaaaur.” The grass-type waddled back to behind his trainer, where she was quite content to let him sit for now.

“Right then. Fresh start. I can work with that.” Her hand dropped to her belt where her pokéballs sat. Who would she throw out there next…?

“Trainers, ready your next Pokémon!”

Ah, she knew exactly who would make a bang. “Dresden, time to play!” The first-stage fire fox came out in a swirl of flame, one paw at the center of his staff, extended aggressively. The blonde stared, and fought very hard not to attach her palm to her face. He had her flair for the dramatic. Oh boy.

Calem raised his eyebrows, and simply tossed out his pokéball.

An Absol appeared, sleeker and a good bit bigger than the one Ariadne had as a guardian. It _stalked_ onto the field, and gave both Brienne and Dresden a look that, if she were not hyped up on battle adrenaline, would send shivers down her spine.

“Dresden doesn’t have the dual psi-typing of his evolved form yet, Remont. A dark-type attack won’t do extra damage yet.” She had to grin. Yes, Dresden’s psychic attacks would be pretty much useless at this point. But his fire moves were damn powerful, and he’d finally gotten a handle on _focusing_ that fire.

Calem simply scoffed.

“Begin!” Came Korrina’s shout.

The Absol _moved._ It was almost like watching Dirk in the field. Dresden squawked and dodged out of the way of the first quick attack, but not the second, and went rolling across the field. “Dresden, double team and fire spin. Make him slow down!”

Fire went spiraling across the field, forcing the Absol to slow down a _little_ in its attempt not to get burned. The quick attack made contact a third time, but Dresden made him pay for it with a blast of fire right to the face.

Calem had his fists clenched. “Slash!”

The Absol hadn’t quite recovered from the attack to the face, but he didn’t need to. Neither of the pokemon had moved from their spot and he knew exactly where the Braixen was. Dresden howled and smacked him hard with his staff, causing the Absol to whine and bounce backwards, out of reach.

“You know how to finish this, Absol.” Calem was _focused._

Absol _howled_ , head up and neck extended, the sound reminiscent of wolves, reverberating all the way through the tower. Dresden winced and put his paws over his ears. The second that happened, Absol pounced, dashing forward and _leaping_ onto Dresden, taking him down with all four paws. Dresden barked and flashed fire around him, to no discernable effect.

Absol chomped down hard in a Bite attack to Dresden’s shoulder, and hung on for dear life.

Brienne could only call it a scream. That’s the only word she had for the sound Dresden made. Not long after, the fire fox curled up on his side, paws on top of his head.

“Dresden is unwilling to battle. Absol wins the round!”

She recalled Dresden and made a mental note to cuddle the hell out of him later.

“Typing isn’t everything,” Calem remarked simply.

Absol was still standing tall, though his fur was well-singed and he was favoring one leg slightly.

“Saturn,” Brienne called, eyes locked on her opponent. “Go.”

The Ivysaur charged into the arena, recovered enough from the first battle to be just as enthusiastic as before.

Absol dashed into another quick attack that wasn’t as fast as the first few had been, but was still hard to keep an eye on.

“Saturn, razor leaf, ring version!”

The small green leaves came out of the partially-bloomed flower on Saturn’s back in a horizontal spiral, surrounding the grass-type just as Absol came in to make contact, his legs and sides getting torn up in the process. Saturn growled as Absol made contact, powder puffing out of his flower.

Absol sneezed and cantered away.

Saturn growled louder and chased after the disaster Pokemon, powder puffing out of the bloom the whole way.

Brienne blinked. Well. Angry grass-type. Note to self, do not piss off Saturn.

The powder Saturn was puffing out of his bloom changed color from light purple to dark blue by the time he got at just the right angle to shoot it straight at the Absol. It smacked the felid pokemon in the face and it immediately started to cough, shaking his head as if it would get rid of the irritant.

“…Was that poison powder?” The blonde watched the Absol continue to cough, its body now shivering weakly.

“Ivysaaaur!” The look on Saturn’s face was very, very smug of himself as his vines extended from his back once again, reaching for Absol’s legs.

“Slash, Absol!” Calem yelled, still hoping to finish this before the poison did the job.

The Absol’s claws made contact with Saturn’s vines and he winced, but kept going, tangling them tight around Absol’s legs. He yanked, hard.

Absol may have weighed five times more than Saturn did, but that didn’t mean a good hard yank wouldn’t put him down. He tripped, and shuddered as he hit the ground, the poison working a whole lot faster than anyone thought. He struggled a little to get out of the vines, but when another shudder hit him he quit, head coming to rest on the stone floor.

“Absol is unable to battle. Saturn wins the round!”

Calem was frowning hard by this point as he returned his Absol. “That was a good round. Your Ivysaur is very, very determined. Dresden could probably use a little more training, though.”

Brienne nodded, and kneeled to get at Saturn’s eye level. “You done, bud?”

Saturn nodded, and turned to pointedly look at Korrina as he flopped on the floor.

She chuckled. “Saturn is no longer able to battle. Each Trainer is now down to one Pokemon each!”

“Good job, Saturn.” The grass-type eagerly returned to his pokéball. The blonde rolled her head around on her shoulders and let out a long sigh. “You ready for the last one, Remont, or should we just call this match mine by default?”

“Tch. I can’t let you have it that easily, I might as well go home afterwards if I did. No fun for either of us.” He pulled another pokéball off his belt, and Brienne did the same.

“Frogadier!”

“Dirk!”

The two first-stage Pokemon stared each other down, eyes locking across the field.

_ “I don’t think I’ll need commands for this battle, Mom.” _

She blinked. “You sure?”

 _“Yeah. It’ll be going too fast for you to keep up, anyway.”_ Dirk said, not moving.

“Oh. When you’re ready, then.”

The two trainers weren’t quite sure what the start signal had been. One moment, the Frogadier and Kirlia had been staring each other down, the next, there was nothing but green, white, and blue blurs all over the field, small explosions going off wherever the two clashed.

Brienne knew Dirk was using Magical Leaf, and that it’d be _very_ effective against Frogadier’s water-typing. It was honestly a battle of who could get more hits in faster.

She could feel, somewhat, the slow aches of a few Water Pulses getting in past Dirk’s guard. She wondered, now, how she hadn’t guessed she was psychic. She could feel it when Dirk and Kanaya took hits.

She settled, relaxing her stance, and simply closed her eyes. She’d frankly get more information from what her body was telling her, rather than her eyes. Across the field, she heard Calem squawk in confusion. She grinned. Go ahead, Calem, be confused. Works for me.

She breathed, and focused. The tingling up her spine increased, and so did the pain she was feeling from Dirk. Oh, he wasn’t taking more hits at this point, she just felt what he _had_ more keenly. The grin on her face grew. Dirk was truly coming into his own. If there was one thing Dirk and Kanaya had taken after their trainer with, it was that once they came to a decision, they stuck with it.

Dirk wanted to be a swordsman. And so he was.

She opened her eyes.

The two Pokémon landed smack in the middle of the two trainers, Frogadier a blue lump at Dirk’s feet.

“Frogadier is unable to battle. Dirk wins the round. Brienne wins the match!” Korrina’s voice held just a little bit of awe.

Calem pinched his lips together and nodded, once, before locking gazes with Brienne again. “Good. I see I was right.” He returned his Frogadier, face stoic.

“Yeah.” Brienne then dropped to her knees, arms open wide for Dirk to launch himself at her for a hug. “Oh fantastic fucking job, Dirk. You’ve gotten so good!”

_ “It’s the longer legs and shorter skirt. Makes moving SO much easier.” _

She snorted. “Yes, that it does.” She stood, Dirk still in her arms, and approached Calem. “Good match. _Really_ good match.”

He nodded. “You take to challenges well. I’m glad.” He gave her a small, honest smile that sent all the blood in her face rushing to her ears and cheeks, and turned on the spot. “I’ll see you later. Not heading out of Shalour for another couple days. It’s a big city, and it’ll be a while before we’re here again!” He put a wave behind him as he left the Tower.

Brienne stared.

Korrina rolled up to her on her seemingly ever-attached skates. “That was an awesome battle! What was Dirk even _doing?_ ”

She blinked at Korrina before she was able to answer. “Magical Leaf.”

“But…” She trailed off. “I never saw it.”

Brienne shrugged. “There may have been some psychics involved, but it was definitely Magical Leaf.”

_ “Mom, I know Calem just bamboozled you, but that battle DID have a goal at the end.” _

Said trainer squeaked, and blushed more as she glared down at her Kirlia. “Hush, you. How I react to my rivals is my business.”

_ “Uh-huh.” _

She rolled her eyes. “So, uhm…the Keystone?”

Gurkinn clapped his hands together. “Of course, and after that last battle, I would love nothing more than to simply hand it to you. But, you have one more thing to do before I can.”

She nearly dropped Dirk in a double face palm. “And that is?”

The old man smiled serenely. “Battle the Mega-Evolution Successor.”

Brienne blinked in disbelief. “Korrina.” She turned her head to glare at the gym leader.

“Yeap!” She grinned widely. “Come battle me at my gym, and try to get my badge at the same time!”

“Tomorrow. I just went through most of my team and while I _could_ capitalize on your type’s massive weakness, I don’t want to risk it that much.”

_ “Awwwwww…” _

“Shush, Dirk.” She took a long breath in and out. “I’ll battle you tomorrow.”

Korrina pouted slightly. “It’s not about type weakness. It’s about what feels most comfortable with you as a person.”

Brienne just gave her a _look_.

“Right. Tomorrow.” She waved and started to skate out. “See you then! Bring your A game!”

The short blonde turned to Shauna. “Why is everyone here crazy?”

Shauna came up and patted her on the shoulder, then leaned over to kiss her cheek. “You’re just unbelievably deadpan, love. Everyone else is fine. Also, aren’t you being a little hypocritical, with your team being more psychic than not?”

“I am not being hypocritical. The psychic thing just _happened,_ all right? I was gonna stop at Dresden but then Glubby decided she wanted to hang around.”

Dirk snorted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Bloody Chapter! Just so much frustration with this chapter. Stuff happened. Ruts in the ground, okay? There may be typos. I no longer care.  
> Only thing I got done was a lot of later-plot writing. Waaaay later plot.  
> Leave a comment below!


	17. The Only Payoff For Any Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not really an update, more like a sneak peak for future stories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. I'm so sorry. I know it's been over seven months since the last update. I've been meaning to write, to work on the next chapter. But it just hasn't happened.  
> Between almost losing EVERYTHING I've ever written in the last six years, four pet deaths within four months, my depression slamming me in the face again, and the holidays hitting harder than they have for a long time, focusing on the main story has been difficult. 
> 
> Instead, today's update is a preview of the other stuff I've been working on, stories that will happen after "Eyes of The Beholder" ends. Brienne has quite the long story ahead of her, fraught with trials.  
> Enjoy.

_Looker Missions:_

Brienne slammed the dark-wood door behind her, folder clenched and crumpling in one hand. She was sweaty, achy, and quite ready to smack Looker in the face with his damned folder of clues.

His head perked up from his seat behind the desk, a pleased smile on his face. “Oh, you’re finished, partner? Very well done!”

“’Very well done!’ He says! Well done sums it up!” She snarled, stomping her way up to his desk, folder held in front of her as a weapon. “I have been _all over_ this city, have chased and been chased, stared at random people for _hours,_ trying to figure out if they’re the person I want, and have been kicked out of _two_ cafes! TWO! All for five sparkly pieces of paper!!” She growled, throwing the folder down in front of him. “What _is_ it with you and sparkly clues, anyway?”

He idly opened the folder and counted out five pieces of overly-bedazzled cardstock with various phrases of encouragement on them. “I like glitter.” He shrugged, unfazed by the anger in her voice.

She nearly fell over from shock. “Oh god. I found the only middle-aged detective on the planet who has ‘oooh lookit the shiny!’ syndrome. Angels help me.” She groaned, wiping away a bit more soot and grime from her face.

The detective looked at her properly for the first time since she stomped into the bureau. “I am very proud of you, partner.” His gaze was much, much sharper than the blonde expected for the statement. “Two of these challenges would have been difficult for me, and you found them sooner than I expected.” There was a mix of honest satisfaction and pride mixed in his gaze. Brienne didn’t quite know what to make of it. It felt, oddly enough, as if there were a book’s worth of emotions behind the words, but his face showed none of them.

“Thanks,” she murmured, strangely touched.

“Now!” The moment broke with the detective’s excited outburst. “You said something about a contract, did you not?”

“Uh, yeah,” Brienne answered, a beat off. Man, this guy was _all over_ the place.

He slipped a piece of paper forward from inside the desk. It was mostly blank, except for one line.  

Brienne spun the paper around and stared, trying to comprehend just what she was seeing. The paper had been dated at the top left, at least.

 _‘We are now partners.’_ The single line read, in horrible penmanship, with a scribble at the bottom that was possibly a signature. She couldn’t make it out.

“What.” Two plus two was not equaling four, here!

“You wanted a contract! I have written one up. Is it not satisfactory?” She’d received less innocent looks from Shauna with the exact same tone. How a fully grown man was doing it made no sense.

Reboot, brain, reboot! Her mouth opened, but no understandable sound would come out. “I…er…eh…yes?” She swallowed. “It’s fine.” She picked up the nearby pen and signed her name next to his, in a much more legible hand than what had to be his name. Not that she could read it. That might have been a ‘k’ in the middle of his last name. Who knew?

Brienne put the pen down with a gentle click on the desk. “Now what?” She ran a hand through her hair and winced when she felt how dirty it was.

Looker checked his wristwatch. “It’s just past eight o’clock. You should get dinner, and rest. I will contact you tomorrow.”

She nodded, already turning for the door. “Cool.”

The door was open and Brienne was halfway through it before Looker called out. “Brienne, wait, where are you staying?”

“North Boulevard Pokémon Center.” She sighed tiredly. “Good _night,_ Detective.”

“Goodnight.”

 

_Mea Culpa:_

Brienne just _had_ to get here early. She sat in the café booth, quietly fiddling with the straw wrapper that had come with her drink. It was a sweet, fruity thing that actually wasn’t half bad but she hadn’t really registered the taste beyond ‘not disgusting.’

Richie had called her yesterday. _‘”Hey, pal, you wanna apologize, right? I can set it up so my brother meets you tomorrow, here’s the address…”’_

And so she went. She felt a little herded into it, but she truly _did_ want to make things right, so… Brienne just hoped Looker wouldn’t take one glance at her and promptly turn the other way.

She wished the butterflies in her stomach would go away.

She nearly started when she picked her head up from staring at the table and there he was. Oh.

He wasn’t quite facing her, but he _was_ standing there.

Say it now, before you lose your nerve! “I’m sorry, Looker. I made an assumption and stuck my foot in my mouth and I am so sorry.”

Okay now shut the fuck up and let him talk. No more words from ms. blabber mouth.

It took him another few seconds, but he did sit down opposite her. What surprised her was the lack of coffee in his hand. “It was not right of me to snap at you, and for that, I apologize. I know you had the best intentions, but… well, you get points for trying, I guess. Thank you.”

She nodded, still keeping her mouth shut.

The two sat awkwardly for a few minutes, Brienne returning her gaze to the whorls in the fake-wood table and Looker scanning over the café, eventually stopping at the window.

Looker surprised her again by speaking up first. “…How is your progress on your knitting? You said your grandmother taught you?”

“She did.” A small, small smile appeared on her face. “I finished it. You, ah, gave me more to think about so a lot more knitting got done.” Brienne shrugged and glanced at his face. “Not sure what to do with it now. I usually give it away once I’m done.”

“You could always give it to Richie. His face will light up like Nimbasa at night even if you gave him a bag of oran berries.”

She giggled quietly. “Yeah, he’d probably love it and I made it big enough even for him.” She bit her lip in hesitation and sobered. “Um…”

His eyes were on her now. That just made the horrible awkward itch she felt _worse._ She squirmed in her seat. “What now? Do we go for a walk? Go our separate ways until something happens?”

“…We could. I’d actually like a coffee first, though. Can’t walk into a café and not have a coffee.”

 

 _Solaceon Ruins Incident_ :

She smacked her face hard enough in dismay to get a slap loud enough to be heard over the whistling. “Oh _hell._ ”

Looker spun in place, eyes wide.

“Brienne?!” He craned his head over his shoulder to face the flying letters again. “Did you call her—Er, on second thought, don’t answer that question.” He turned back to her, who had climbed the last few steps to get on the third floor proper. “Did _they_ call you here?”

She eyed the flying black blurs, who had started to spin faster and in a much more intricate pattern the moment she had appeared. “…Think so. Had flying alphabet soup in my dreams for a _week._ ”

He dropped his head in mild defeat, slowly shaking it from side to side. _“Be careful what you say,_ ” he hissed, holding out his hand to her.

That…that was a gesture he’d last done with her in _Kalos._ Or, would do. Argh.

Definitely worried.

She took his hand and squeezed gently in an attempt to reassure him, the both of them facing the cloud of…Pokémon?…zipping by.

“So, what exactly are these things?”

Looker’s hand tightened around hers. “Unown. Technically, they’re Pokémon. There haven’t been many willing to study them. They’re capricious and very hard to understand, going by their own rules of engagement. Most who try to study or encounter them go missing.”

“Oh. Wonderful. This world is just full of surprises. They’re European fae. Crap.” She groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

_“What?”_

“…When we get out of here, remind me to recite the ballad of Tam Lin. It makes sense in context.” She sighed. “What are the rules of engagement? Have you been told?”

Looker’s eyebrows went up. “No…they want something from us, so they’re trying to come to _our_ level, more or less. Somewhat.”

The Unown changed pattern abruptly, a few of the whole coming to the forefront. Seeing as there were a _lot_ of Unown flying around, this was another surprise out of many.

“Htob uoy dellac ew.” The Pokémon, oddly enough shaped like letters, ordered themselves.

Looker groaned.

The whistling in the room picked up in tempo.

Brienne squinted and tilted her head to the side. “…It’s backwards. ‘We called you both.’”

The letters rearranged again. “’Pay attention!’…Okay…” Brienne blinked slowly. She’d wished the whistling would stop. It was getting at that level of pitch that started to hurt.

Another rearrangement.

“’Hawkie snores…like…a…Rattata?’” She couldn’t help it. She snorted.

Looker jerked in surprise. “Ignore the text!” The light in the room was very dim, but the detective refused to meet her eyes. “That’s their way of distracting you.”

“Then what do I pay attention to?” She huffed.

“Still working on it.” His eyes scanned all over the flying mass of letters, searching for something that would hint at the true clue.

Another rearrangement of letters came up. Brienne couldn’t help herself, she narrowed her eyes and put her brain to translating the awkwardly shaped letters.

“’Sixteen bones…broken…in…Laverre…’” The blood began to drain from her face. “’Scared…Flare…grunts…Lalonde…’” She abruptly stopped speaking out loud when the next word revealed itself to be ‘laughed.’ She was very, very glad Looker was not reading this along with her.

That was not something she would ever be proud of. Even if part of it wasn’t her fault. She growled quietly, her hand unconsciously squeezing Looker’s tighter in anger.

He squeezed back, breaking her from her growing anger and shame. “Don’t let them rile you up. If you end up doing something they don’t appreciate, you’ll regret it. Believe me.”

She sighed and tried to relax. He was right. But hell, if she was ever gonna tell him about that, it would be on her _own damned terms._

The whistling was seriously irritating at this point. It didn’t help it kept alternating its pattern. Were they _trying_ to make this harder than it had to be?

Long tone, short, short, short, short and short, long, long, short, long, short, long, short and short.

….That was Morse code.

“Hawkshaw.” She’d decided when she’d learned his last name—his brother was as open as he was reserved—she wouldn’t use it much, but this situation fit the bill for using it pretty well. “Do you know Morse code? They’re whistling Morse code. I think.”

“Do you know that feeling when someone is humming a song you know but you _cannot_ for the life of you remember the title? That’s how I feel right now.” He grimaced.

“Oh. Oh boy.” She sighed and rubbed at her face with her free hand. “If I memorize the pattern, we can look it up when we leave.” She blinked. “Could we leave without figuring it out immediately?”

The Unown swarm froze.

“Oh shit.” She swallowed. “I’m going to take that as a no.”

The swarm began to glow pink.

“I am so, so sorry, Looker.”

Her hand was slowly being crushed, the detective staring right at the growing doom that was the Unown swarm charging an attack. Brienne didn’t blame him.

With a high-pitched scream, their world went pink, then black.

 

_Summer Solstice:_

Once again, there was a definite ‘whoomph’ sound as something entered the energies gathered, and the fire grew in strength. “Let my mind be open to the truth. Let my lips always speak the truth. Let my feet ever walk upon the sacred paths!”

A shudder went down her spine before Dresden’s staff lit at the top with blue flame.

“Oh not again. Everyone back!” She called, leaping back from the fire as it nearly broke the stone ring barrier she’d built for safety, the flames themselves turning as blue as the ones on Dresden’s staff.

Her Delphox planted himself where he stood, the only one not truly in danger, and kept it from growing any further out. Dirk and Kanaya groaned in tandem as their eyes lit up with psi.

_“Yet another prophecy, coming right up! It’s a doozy, Mom!”_

“Gotcha, Dirk!”

A figure in hues of lavender and dark purple stood against a growling, chaotic dark, joined at her back by a taller figure in yellows and gold, long cape brushing their feet and sword held out. The image expanded, Dialga on the left and Palkia on the right, roaring in anger and pain as chains of red wrapped around their torsos and held them in place. The tiny sprites of the Sinnoh Lake trio appeared above it all, calling in tandem just as much pain as the dragons were, before the whole image crashed in upon itself, a collapse of chaos and the fire went out completely.

All three psychic Pokémon dropped to their feet, suddenly exhausted from the massive use of power.

“Oh. Crap.”

The long silence was only filled with quiet scrambling as Brienne checked up on all three of her suddenly tired Pokemon, returning Kanaya and Dirk, and only letting Dresden relight the bonfire before returning him as well. The light from the fire illuminated Looker’s shocked and confused expression, and she couldn’t quite meet his face.

"Wh...What was that?"

 

_And So Should Partners Be:_

His hands clenching around hers and made her look up. “...I've s-seen what Galactic does. I don't want to see you in that. I...”

“I know,” she sighed softly and lowered their intertwined hands. “Nothing I can say will help your worrying…” Brienne shuddered and shut her eyes. “Honestly…” _I hate admitting this._ “I’m scared too.” Her voice wavered. “But I’m going to face them anyway. So others aren’t.”

It took Looker a long time to respond, his hands clenching and unclenching in hers. “...You...said earlier that you couldn't promise to stay away. And that you couldn't promise not to dive into things. Can you...Can you promise that nothing will happen to you? I don't care about what happens to my body. I've already lost both legs and my left side is barely functional. I could be a meat shield, for all my body is worth, and I know I'll come out alive in the end either way. If you can promise me that you won't get hurt...”

She pinched her lips together and nodded. _Beladonis Hawkshaw, you are NOT just a meat shield! If I have to whack that fact into your head a million times, then I will!_ She was going to stay safe just to fix that train of thought, if _nothing_ else. “I can promise that. And I don’t break my promises.” She had no intentions of getting hurt in the first place, and every intention of making sure he was the same way.

“…I’ll hold you to your promise.” He squeezed her hands almost to the point of pain. “I trust you.”

That simple, three word statement sucker-punched her straight to the core the same way he had when he’d first given her a shoulder to lean on, and again when he’d explained just what ‘partner’ meant. She knew she was blushing—her ears felt on fire. “…Just give me a hug already.” When had her voice turned hoarse?

Looker lunged at her, enfolding her in a hug so big that she probably disappeared into it from an outsider point of view. She felt his whole body shudder once, twice, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck. One of her hands came to cradle the back of his head, the other wrapped securely around his middle.  

 

_Fever Visions:_

Brienne was waiting for him.

When he got to her assigned room and knocked, just to make sure there wasn’t a nurse in there doing something important, he cracked open the door and slipped inside in a flash.

It was the lack of sound that first got him.

Brienne…Brienne was a chatterbox. She _liked_ to talk. Didn’t matter about what. Sometimes if it was too quiet she would simply keep up a stream of consciousness babble just to chase the silence away.

It was too quiet in here.

She was so _small._ The bed nearly engulfed her with its whiteness, blanket drawn up to her chest and her head of hair a bright spot of yellow. Her arms had been left above the blanket, an IV line attached to her left arm leading to a saline bag.

It hurt. It scared him.

She’d promised she wouldn’t get hurt, and this had been completely random chance, yet here she was in the hospital anyway, in serious condition.

He wanted to wrap her up and ship her back to Kalos.

He grabbed the chair that sat in the corner and pulled it over to her bedside, situating it as close to her head as he could get and not be too much in the way of anything. He took her hand, small, pale, but long-fingered—she’d said she played the piano, she had the hands for it—in both of his, and sat down to wait.

She’d get better. He’d be here.

 

_Trial By Fire:_

Jupiter sat in an office chair, outlined by the blue glow of multiple TV screens, satisfied as a Persian who’d caught the annoying Rattata.

There were three grunts pinning him to the floor, and the one practically sitting on his shoulders had a hand in his hair, yanking his head up and forcing him to watch the main screen. He could wiggle, a bit, but that was all.

“Tonight’s climax is going to be explosive!”  

He could barely talk from the way the grunt held his head. He snarled. “F-Fuck you!” Not Brienne he was going to lose Brienne too he couldn’t lose her he couldn’t. No no oh gods no not again! He’d failed and Brienne’s blood would be on his hands just like Melody’s just like Emin’s. No please no!

Jupiter smirked again. “Oh I do love being right.” She leaned over to the microphone again. “Looker is quite enjoying the show. Wouldn’t you say?” She made a waving motion with her hand and the grip on his hair eased off, and she brought the microphone closer to him.

He squirmed harder and raised his voice. “Brienne! Brienne can you hear me?!”

On the monitor Brienne went still and her face softened. “I can hear you.”

Jupiter kept the microphone right where it was, though the light in her eyes turned maniacal. “Can you take out the Graveler?”

The blonde’s hand went to her belt and pulled a pokéball off, pressing the button with a thumb. Nothing happened. She raised an eyebrow. “Pokéballs are inactive. Not surprised.”

Brienne didn’t sound panicked. Annoyed, more unimpressed than anything. It was the only thing keeping him from falling to pieces on the spot. She had a plan. She had something.

His eyes were still locked on the screen. He swallowed. “…Can I still hold you to your promise?”

She nodded, once, and gave him a smile. “Definitely. See you once I get out of here.”

Jupiter yanked the microphone away. “Enough of that.”

His partner’s demeanor changed on the spot. “Oh fuck you up the ass with a rusty rake and a vat of motor oil, you pathetic excuse for a planet.” Ooooh, she was angry.

The multiple slurs made Jupiter’s eye twitch. “Let’s get to today’s climax, shall we? There’s been plenty of emotions for now. They’re clogging up the air in here.” She waved a hand in front of her face as if someone had passed gas.

“Tch. Very well.” Brienne face was hard, unreadable.

Damn! Did these grunts weigh a ton each? He squirmed and snarled and fought to get free.

Jupiter smiled, eyes locked more on him than anything else as she brought her lips to the microphone once again. “Graveler, dearies, self-destruct for me, if you will.”

Brienne brought her arms up in front of her face as the Graveler rumbled ascent and flashed bright white.

The monitor fell into static as the whole complex rumbled from the explosion.

He froze. She said—she said she promised. She promised and he had to trust her and fuck he needed to remember what breathing is she promised She Promised SHE PROMISED.

Through the ringing in his ears he heard Jupiter sigh in satisfaction. “Finally. Two flying-types with one stone. And I don’t even need to kill you, Detective. I do so love it when a plan goes off without a hitch. Though, I’d been hoping for a little more begging and sobbing and panic from your latest—and late—friend.” Another hand motion, and the weight on top of him vanished.

He didn’t move.

 

_Fall At Mount Stark:_

He lowered his pipe and turned away. "Knock her out," he ordered quietly.

“Dirk,” Brienne nodded. The Gallade’s eyes glowed for a brief moment and Jupiter sank bonelessly to the ground, out cold through the psychic type’s hypnosis.

Donna chomped onto her ankle, shook it hard, and then dropped it, turning on the spot and scratching a bit of dirt onto Jupiter’s prone form. She snuffle-huffed, and then went to stand by Looker.

“Good work,” the agent said, returning the Deino to her Pokeball. “Thank you.”

Brienne peered over her shoulder, saw that Mars and Charon had attempted _something_ and were now snoozing, and quietly eyed the agent in front of her. “...We got her.”

Looker kept silent.

“Right…” she trailed off, before crouching, grabbing the ankle Donna had chewed on, and started to drag her away. “I want _out_ of this mountain before something goes wrong.”

“I promise I’m doing my best to keep myself in check,” the agent growled, plodding forward and still not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“No, I meant the ceiling falling on our heads or something,” she snorted. “But if you want to go hit a few rocks with that pipe, I’ll pretend like I’m not here.” She continued to drag Jupiter along the ground, not minding that her head occasionally bumped over a few small rocks.

Looker twitched, his grip on the metal pipe tightening. “I’ll wait.”

“...For what you want to do, you’re holding it in really well.” Brienne said as softly as she could, and still be heard. “And I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Don’t encourage me,” he snapped.

The only evidence of her wince was her jaw clenching.

They came up to the thinnest part of the path around the largest magma pit, the heat singeing the fine hairs off their skin and making them wince away. Their walking speed slowed, footsteps careful to stay away from the edge.

Brienne suddenly bent over double, all the air forced out of her lungs from a sudden hit to her diaphragm. She wheezed, scrambling, and was pushed hard to the edge of the pit as Jupiter pulled herself upright. Her world tilted to the side as she started to fall over the edge, the heat magnifying ten-fold. Adrenaline rushed through her and she yelped, her body reacting much too late, arms pinwheeling for balance.

Looker grabbed her hand and _yanked,_ pulling her bodily away from the edge, only to step wrong and lose balance himself, going over before Brienne could recover and catch him.

She stared, and watched him fall as if in slow-motion, heart in her throat.

“ _Bel!_ ”

A flash, a specific pop sound she’d come to associate with teleporting Pokemon, an odd blur of purple and gold, and Looker was gone, as was anything that might have jumped in.

Jupiter cackled. “Well, that’s it for him! A faster death than I would have liked, but now I get to watch _you._ ”

Brienne snarled, glad to turn shock and fear into rage, and pounced onto Jupiter, immediately landing a hard right hook to her face. “He’s alive, you fucking piece of shit! He got teleported!”

“You sure about that? Or are you just lying to yourself?” Jupiter sneered, attempting to grapple with her.

She shut that down as fast as she could, glad Jupiter wasn’t really a physical fighter. “I’m positive. And honestly, without Looker here, you ought to be terrified.”

“Please. You’re all talk.” Jupiter sighed.

Brienne pulled her roughly off the stone floor and slammed her into the wall. “No, see, Looker kept me from doing the really stupid things. Like coming down to your level,” she grinned darkly, the light in her eyes similar to Gl’bgolyb at her happiest.

“You couldn’t kill me if I put the knife to my own throat.”

“No, I can’t,” Brienne spun the Galactic admin roughly, towards where her other two Pokemon were waiting. “I don’t need to. I hope you enjoyed last night’s sleep. Because it’s the last one without nightmares you’re gonna have for a _very_ long time.” She frog-marched Jupiter to the cavern exit. “Glubby! Put her down, and have lots of fun with it.”

“Oh, please, if this is the best you can do--” Gl’bgolyb’s hypnosis, _much_ stronger than Dirk’s, cut Jupiter off mid-sentence and she crumpled once again.

“You’ll see. In time.” Brienne swallowed, and stared at her surroundings.

Three Pokemon out, three criminals, all asleep, in a cave.

Looker, gone. No idea where.

Cry _later._ Get out of the mountain. Call Richie. Get Galactic dealt with. Cry for a little bit. _Then_ go looking for Looker. She could do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to The Amazing Key-Chan here on ao3 for her Agent Looker! She's a doll.


	18. Show'Em How Funky Strong Is Your Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ACTUAL CHAPTER UPDATE
> 
> First dates are always fun, flush in the 'honeymoon' phase of a relationship. That, and a gym battle can really make a great couple of days. See the bright days of Shalour!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god guys I'm so sorry for the giant hiatus from the last actual chapter story. What was it, at least a year? Two? Crap.  
> It's been kinda hard lately. Quit my job, got sciatica, depression's been up and down, lost four cats in the space of six months, ect. I'll try harder to keep up with newer chapters. Some more interesting stuff is coming up, so it shouldn't be so hard. Shauna, when I tried to write her, gave me a double-bird and danced backwards into hell.  
> (I'm sorry Val.)

Shauna leaned back, arm of the couch supporting her lower back and one leg stretched out along its length, Brienne wrapped in her arms and fully on the couch, eyes closed and half-dozing. The two of them waited in Shalour’s Pokemon Center, Brienne’s Pokemon in the midst of healing.

She hummed quietly, gently stroking away wayward strands of hair from the shorter blonde’s face. “Still sleepy? You seemed plenty energetic in the Tower.”

“Mnnh. Where do you think all the energy went? Boom, big battle, lots of brain power.” She snuggled in closer, her head coming to rest on Shauna’s chest. “You’re comfy.”

Shauna snorted gently. “That’s because you’re snuggling the squishiest part of me.”

“Do you object to this?”

“…Not really. Continue dozing,” Shauna commanded impishly. The shorter blonde was adorable, and probably knew it, and she wanted to do nothing but cuddle this girl for ages. Also, having Brienne in her lap meant she could ask questions without her running away. She subtly squeezed tighter, to no complaint from her girlfriend.

It still gave her warm-fuzzies whenever she thought of it that way.

“How you doing, though? Camping out every night agreeing with you?” Ease into it slowly…

“For the most part, yeah. Put up tent, make fire—so much easier with Dresden around—make food, go to sleep, wake up, make something resembling breakfast and coffee, break camp, keep on walking. Saturn helps me dig out rocks I might be laying on. It works.” She tilted her head up so that Shauna saw her eyes—upside down—and the top half of her face. “Route ten sucked though. Learned something about myself, but learning it sucked.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m, ah…psychic?” Her face scrunched up, like she still couldn’t believe it about herself.

“Really?” Oh. Her heart leapt into her throat. “How’d you figure that?”

“Route ten is not nice to psychics. It…drains them, for lack of better word? Takes about a day, but I had massive headaches all the way through the route.”

Shauna recognized the tone of hesitation in Brienne’s voice. It was the exact same one she thought she had when she lied through her teeth. So the trip through route ten had been worse than that, and Brienne just didn’t want her to worry. Shauna let her get away with the lie. “Headaches suck.”

“That they do,” Brienne visibly relaxed. “Saturn evolved on the way up. He’s the only non-psi-type I’ve got on my team, so he got a lot of use. It was just the boost he needed, and he helped me get around when the headache got too bad to really open my eyes. He’s the biggest sweetheart ever.”

“D’aaawww…” She slowly started to comb her fingers through the shorter blonde’s hair.

“I ended up in the hospice, and Sycamore came to see me after they contacted Aunt Grace, and got a little bit of an education.”

“Ouch. Well, I’m glad you’re okay.” So she’d been having a harder time by herself than she ever let on. Why was she hiding this? It hurt just a little bit that Brienne wasn’t sharing any of her difficulties. Then again, hadn’t she said something about being a hypocrite earlier? Mnnh. Time to poke the real issue here, see if she could get anything out of her. “Tierno told me that something happened in Reflection Cave. You’re okay now, but…can you tell me?”

Shauna felt all the muscles in Brienne’s shoulders and upper back tense up into rocks. “…I saw something I really didn’t want to think about, and it…” she swallowed. “It was painful.”

Nope. She wasn’t gonna have this tenseness on her hands. Nuh-uh. She dug her thumbs into the nape of Brienne’s neck and moved them in small circles. The blonde squeaked and then groaned as muscles that had probably been tense for days were slowly rubbed into submission. “Wanna talk about it?”

“…Not really.” She sighed, and then groaned again and rolled over slightly to give Shauna better access to her back. The massage interrogation technique was working! “Reflection Cave…there’s something weird about it. It got into my head and I didn’t want it to.”

Man, her shoulders were like rocks. Had it bothered her that much? “Do you want a travel partner? I know we sorta agreed to go it by ourselves, except for Trevor and Tierno, but…”

“I’m okay on my own, Shauna. Oh god, that feels so good…” Another groan escaped her throat. “It just…caught me off guard.” Her shoulders went limp.

“All right. But take care of yourself, okay? You are way too tense, and this is supposed to be fun,” she grinned. “Speaking of fun, do you want to go out on a date, today?”

Brienne made a happy noise. “Does the sun rise in the east? Shauna, I would love to go on a date with you. What did you have in mind?”

“We could go shopping, and then I could take you out to dinner. There’s a battle restaurant here that specializes in synth sea-food and water-types. Dad used to work there.” She was really excited to show off at the battle restaurant. It took a certain talent to make battles last just the right amount of time.

“That sounds fantastic. I got a little shopping done in Cyllage, but Shalour is a whole lot bigger.”

She grinned. This was the perfect chance to cheer Brienne up and get her pumped for tomorrow’s battle. “As soon as your Pokémon are healed, we’ll go. Sound good?”

Brienne nodded and stretched to kiss her on the cheek.

~*~

The salt air stung the inside of Brienne's nose. It was late in the afternoon, and the two young women had spent the day window shopping--or in Shauna's case, actually splurging--hunting for whatever caught their eye in each shop. The elder of the two had leaned more towards the clothes and shoe stores. She was tired of wearing the same few shirts and two pairs of jeans over and over again, and the sneakers she'd decided to wear were well on their way to worn.

The part that made it fun was coming out of the dressing room with each new outfit and 'strutting' down an imaginary catwalk for the other to 'oooh' and 'aaaah' over and snap pictures--some real and some imagined. Shauna's style lent itself more to peasant tops and leggings with wide, decorative belts, and cute, eye-catching t-shirts with loud, bold designs.

Her own style, now that she had what appeared to be a pretty good source of income--and how the hell did trainers get taxed, she felt like she was rolling in cash--landed firmly on what could only be coined as 'battle chic.' Multiple layers, pockets everywhere, fingerless gloves--she all of a sudden had a strong love for fingerless gloves--solid metal wrist cuffs, thick jeans with the occasional embellishment, sturdy shoes, and coats that looked like they could take a beating and have TARDIS-like compartments for pockets.

There was a lonely looking lavender trench coat off in a corner of one boutique that kept drawing Brienne's eye the entire time. It even had a clearance ticket attached.

It was in an antique store that a certain object caught her attention, however.

“Ah, so the jewelry has caught the lady’s eye? Perhaps you are searching for an Everstone at discounted price? We have a few already set into pendants and cuffs for Pokemon. Mostly in silver, but a few in gold and battle-worthy steel.” An elderly man came up behind the display case, pleasant smile on his face, with—to her ears—a thick French accent.

“Not quite…” Brienne pointed, her finger an inch away from touching the glass, to a necklace in the far corner, its pendant a small mess of hoops. “…Is that a puzzle, or a broken pendant?”

The antique store owner sighed and frowned. “Perhaps both. I was given that a few years ago, and had been assured by the seller that it was possible to solve it. You’ve a good eye. It is a puzzle. I’ve even seen a picture of it completed. But every customer that’s ever shown interest in it has returned it within a few days, said that it was too hard to solve.” He eyed her, clearly thinking something over. “I will perhaps sell this to you? At a much discounted price if you promise to never bring it back.”

Her eyes lit up from the excitement her newest idea gave her. “Done.”

~*~

Her stomach growled as Shauna yanked Brienne to the restaurant she’d had in mind all day, Brienne with no choice to keep up or be _bodily_ dragged. Brienne hadn’t been to a real, sit-down restaurant since before her arrival in Kalos, preferring to stick to what Grace made or food stands where she could grab-it-and-go. She had no idea about any cultural practices that might be different and she hadn’t thought to ask up to now, _and it was a little too late._

If she was lucky she could just quietly watch Shauna and nobody would notice.

Shauna gladly led the way, this being _her_ idea more than Brienne’s. She spoke to the Maitre’d, and the two of them were led brisky to a little lover’s table, two seats together with the table curled gently around them.

What was confusing was the giant chunk of space directly in front of their table.

The two of them were immediately swarmed by waiters, who pulled out their chairs and pushed them in, poured them glasses of water, supplied bread and three different kinds of butter, and handed them their menus with the utmost care.

A second later a candle was retrieved and placed in the center of the table, and then lit.

“Welcome to Sushifoumi, mademoiselles, I am Peter and I will be your waiter today. If there is anything you need, I will gladly get it for you. Today’s theme of battle is turn-based, no rotation. I will leave you to your choices,” the last waiter said, a soft-voiced man in his mid-twenties, strawberry blonde hair trimmed into a neat undercut and shading off his forehead.

Shauna was already looking through the choices, each entry a meal, three courses detailed with great care.

Brienne sighed, tugging on a stray chunk of hair as her eyes roved over the options. The restaurant must be higher quality, she couldn’t spot a price tag anywhere on the menu, and no a la carte options either. The font was loopy and curly and she could _just_ read the french through it.

Kalos was a _very_ French region, and she was thanking every second with her mother and grandmother now, who had ground the language into her brain. She wasn’t _quite_ fluent but with her increasing time in Kalos, that was quickly changing. Many people spoke English in the region, but it flowed smoothly with French, to the point where most of Geosenge--what she remembered--had spoken nothing _but_ French.

She felt the heat of eyes on her forehead and glanced up at Shauna. Jade green eyes stared at her with an intensity that made her blush and squirm just a little bit in the seat as she brought the edge of the menu to cover her face up to her nose.

“What?” she squeaked.

“You’re adorable,” Shauna answered shamelessly.

“I know that, but,” Brienne blushed harder. “You’re _staring._ ”

“Well, yes,” the other girl giggled. “I have to stare if I want to remember that face for a _really_ long time.”

“Shauna!” she squeaked and let her face fall to the table in front of her, menu on her head like a helmet.

“And this is more like a mental home video. Or Vine.”

Brienne was saved from her embarrassment by the waiter arriving back at their table with a pitcher of water.

“May I get you anything to drink, ladies? Or are you perhaps ready to order?” He asked, the water glasses being refilled on the table with a gentle clink of crystal and ice cubes.

“Oui,” Shauna nodded. _“I’ll take the Sunset on the Sea, with aspargus-leeks on the side.”_ Shauna had picked the hearty soup dish that had been the shorter blonde’s second choice. The name was extremely poetic for a dinner meal, however.

The switch to French surprised Brienne, but only for a moment. Was it a tradition to order in French in a higher-end restaurant? “Um. _The Lumiose Knight’s Sword and Shield, please.”_ This meal rounded up to being steak and potatoes with a vegetable medley. Or, at least that was what she could guess. She hadn’t heard of apata root before.

Peter was nodding along with their orders, pencil scribbling across his notepad as fast as he could go. “Will both of you be battling tonight?”

“No,” Shauna replied immediately. “Just me.”

“Very good, mademoiselle. Your meals will be two turns between plates, so please consider your strategy accordingly.” Peter said, nodding to them both before stepping away briskly.

Shauna _bounced_ in her seat, unproportionally excited for what just seemed to be a meal. But between what the waiter had said and the exorbitant amount of space by their table, it dawned on Brienne that a battle would happen _during_ their meals.

She grinned. “So it’s _your_ turn to show off, now? Were you feeling left out earlier?”

“Maybe a little,” Shauna teased. “But you and Calem have a fire between the two of you, and I didn’t want to douse it. Fires like that are what make legends in the League, you know. They flare into brightness and dazzle _everybody._ I don’t want to get into the middle of _that,_ ” she motioned with a hand, smug.

Brienne raised an eyebrow. “You don’t mind?”

“Goodness, no, it just makes better memories!” she grinned. “Like I’m gonna make here. Beyond my Chespin, you haven’t seen me in battle, and that’s a shame.”

“I thought you were shameless, Shauna.”

Shauna snorted. It was surprisingly adorable. “Please. I try to be. There isn’t enough time in life to be shy if you want something fun,” she sighed. “Where _is_ that waiter? Our appetizers should be here any minute…”

Two simple cheese and fruit dishes were soon placed in front of the young women, and the lights around the general area of their table were lowered, highlighting the smaller arena built into the restaurant floor.

Shauna stood slowly, and sauntered her way to face opposite the ‘chef’ on the other side of the arena. Cool and confident in a way that just oozed sexy to Brienne, and she swallowed. Just for a moment the blonde considered that she might be over her head with Shauna. A little bit.

But oh, drowning in her would be such a delicious death.

~*~

Still half-jittery from excitement from the fantastic ‘meal-and-show’ that Shauna had given her, Brienne gently tugged Shauna this way and that on the boardwalk by their clasped hands.

“You and I really have to battle some day. Watching you and your team was just fantastic. You’re a little sneak when it comes to that Bide and Absorb combination on Booger.” Brienne paused as a question she’d had earlier came back to mind. “...Why ‘Booger?’”

Shauna flushed and groaned. “My little brother, Ben. He was...four when I got that Goomy. And he thought he looked like a giant booger. And said so. Loudly.” She sighed. “It stuck.”

“...I’m not sure if I feel more sorry for you or for the Goomy.”

Shauna _smirked._ Brienne had a brief moment to think about drowning again before the taller girl thrust herself into Brienne’s personal space, arms wrapped around her back. No way to escape. Not that she wanted to.

One of Shauna’s eyebrows went up. “If you feel so sorry for me, you could...invite me back to your room?”

“Presumptive of you, don’t you think?” Brienne teased back, trying to keep cool. Their torsos were nearly flush together and every inch of skin was lighting up, even under clothes. “You think spending the night with me’s gonna make you feel better?”

“It _should…_ ” Shauna grinned toothily, smile outlined in moonlight. Brienne felt Shauna’s hands come to rest low on her hips, thumbs pressing in gently on her belly and sliding down, just under the waist of her jeans.

“What if I’m a little shit and tease you _all night long?_ ” Brienne’s head tilted to the side. “You won’t get any sleep.”

Shauna swallowed and licked her lips. “I’m okay with that.”

~*~

The next morning dawned, bright and hot with the only relief being the breeze off the sea. A sort of adrenaline raced along her spine, turning nerves into overabundant excited energy. Brienne tapped her fingers over her five pokeballs, running over possible tactics she could use.

Kanaya would be of use here, as would Dresden, and she got the sense that Dirk would never forgive her if she didn’t let him fight in this gym. Saturn _would_ be useful, if she didn’t have so many psychics, but he was also the slowest of her team, and Korrina struck her as someone who favored speed and power.

...Brienne understood that. She favored it too.

Calem had, once again, beaten the rest of the group to the gym, and was leaning against one of the pillars framing the entrance to the gym, arms folded. He raised one eyebrow, gaze locked on Brienne, and then raised the other when he noticed the bite mark not-quite-hidden by the collar of her t-shirt.

When Trevor and Tierno had noticed the bite mark, they’d simply snorted at each other, and Trevor had snapped a photo before Brienne could hide it. The two of them were now gossiping with Shauna, the other young woman looking just a little bit tired, but happy. Tierno leaned down and whispered _something_ in Shauna’s ear, and she turned a bright tomato red.

“You don’t quite look ready, Lalonde,” Calem said, raising his chin.

“What makes you say that?” Brienne folded her arms right back, a little defensive. She’d kicked his ass yesterday, she was _plenty_ ready.

He snorted. “Calm down. You’re just missing the skates, that’s all.”

_“Skates?”_

While the rest of the group filed into the gym, it took Brienne the fastest run of her life to get back to the Center, grab her skates, and then put them on and _skate_ back to the gym. Thankfully, it was mostly straight lines there, and perfectly even cement.

The inside of the gym made the blonde groan, and rue the bruises she was about to get. The arena was a giant skating rink, with a battle ring painted in the middle. A sign taped to the entrance of the rink left instructions for challenging trainers.

 

  * __Trainers must at least ATTEMPT the rink. Helmets can be rented down the hall.__


  * _Do not go any faster than you are comfortable with._


  * _Trainers’ performance in the rink will not add or detract to the rules, regulations, and requirements of the official League battle._


  * _For those trainers with disabilities, the rink challenge may be skipped or amended._



 

Brienne sighed and slumped down the hall to get herself a helmet.

Finally, _finally,_ skates and helmet on, Brienne stared at the rink, wobbling gently as she took it all in. The scent she always associated with athletic gyms--wood polish, the stink of old sweat, and a little dust--assaulted her nose and she sighed. _At least it wasn’t a cave._ The lights were bright, reflecting off the hardwood floor, railings emerging from the floor in select areas, offering trainers the chance to grind if they knew how. From a distance, she could spot off-ramps that led to jumps, offering the ability for flips and tricks. She noted all of this in her mind, and decided to ignore all of it, taking the easiest, safest, _flatest_ path towards the challenger’s box.

She could skate. She could skate in a straight line with some proficiency, and even stop well enough to not hit anything, _and_ slow down in time to turn. Anything else was beyond her ability and she fell on her ass enough _on her own_ that she didn’t need to try something else to do it more.

After more wobbling than she was comfortable with, and one fall on her butt that was gonna have her regret ever getting skates in the first place, the blonde made it to the challenger’s box. Korrina was already waiting for her, smile bright. Her eyes seemed to laugh a little as she watched Brienne struggle to take the skates _off._

“Someone’s been active,” Korrina teased, light blue eyes catching on the bite mark. “Your name, Challenger?”

The tradition this time felt more comfortable, a sort of ritual setting into her bones. Names had power, as the titles of your very self, they _were_ your description, moreso than the color of your hair, or how tall you were.

She was starting to understand now why trainers did what they did, why the tradition was so powerful that even young children tried it.

“Brienne Lalonde, from Vaniville Town! I challenge Leader Korrina of Shalour City for a badge!”

Once again, there was a buildup of heat in the core of her, growth with every inhale, tingling energy pushed out with every exhale.

A small bit of awe appeared on Korrina’s face, which turned to a wild smile of someone ready to throw themselves fully into a fight. Blue eyes twinkled, and she laughed. “Time for our big appearance! I saw how strong you were at the Tower of Mastery, Brienne. I want to see if you’ve gotten even stronger between then and now! Show me if you and your team can roll with the punches, mmkay? This is a three-on-three battle, and you are allowed substitutions.”

Brienne didn’t even _see_ Korrina whip out the pokeball before the Mienfoo appeared. The weasel-like pokemon took its stance, eyes shut and looking perfectly calm, waiting for its opponent. Its ears twitched ever so slightly.

She needed grace, it seemed.

“Kanaya, let’s dance!” Her Kirlia materialized silently, knees bent almost in a curtsy, eyes locked on the opponent.

Korrina’s Mienfoo needed no instruction, speeding in, and by the time Brienne blinked, both she and Kanaya were flinching, the ghost of a slap stinging on her cheek. Kanaya swayed back as Mienfoo came in again for another attack, fist clenched.

The fist missed, Kanaya’s delicate hands landing on the outstretched arm and letting it sail behind her, spinning around as if in a waltz. The Mienfoo didn’t go far, flipping around for another punch.

“Double team and confusion!”

Kanaya had a different version of double team than her brother did. Dirk disappeared.

Kanaya _multiplied._

The wavering pink and purple light of the confusion attack came in from all angles in a semi-circle around the Mienfoo. The fighting-type didn’t even flinch, its punch making contact with a double and sailing right through the after-image, blasted on the left side by part of the psychic attack. It stumbled one, two steps, and recovered.

“Keep dancing, Kanaya! It’s working!”

 **_“Quite,”_ ** Brienne heard briefly, and felt a bit of exasperation from her Kirlia.

Korrina frowned. “Don’t make for big attacks just yet. Get in close with double slap!”

The Mienfoo stilled, ears wiggling. Sight could be fooled with double team, but not hearing. Kanaya faltered, her stamina not up to holding double team indefinitely. A smirk appeared on the very weasel-like face, and it dashed in, paws raised to slap.

Brienne panicked briefly. “Magical leaf to its face!”

The yellow and pink weasel got in one slap before it got bombarded with glittering, razor sharp leaves. Kanaya, irritated now, blasted it again with a point-blank confusion.

Mienfoo went tumbling trunk over teakettle and landed on its back. A paw smacked the arena floor in surrender, the other rubbing ruefully at its eyes.

The referee made the call. “First round goes to the Kirlia!”

Korrina called it back, nodding once to herself. “Both your Kirlia are quite graceful. From what I saw of Dirk yesterday, and today, I am glad you train your Pokemon to use their attacks in different ways.”

Kanaya gave a single, short curtsey and trotted back to her trainer, where she got a gentle hug and a quick look over the bruises on her cheeks.

“Nothing that won’t fade with a little time, love. Good job,” Brienne smiled, kissed her on the head, and returned her.

“You did passing well with stamina. Enough to take out Mienfoo with a couple surprises. How will you take on pure strength?” Korrina asked, and released a Machoke.

Brienne started. “What the hell is that?”

“You’ve never seen a Machoke before?” Korrina chirped, surprised. “They’re quite common, though I had this one traded in from Kanto.”

“Ten more seconds to release your next Pokemon, Challenger!” The referee called.

Her lips pursed and eyes narrowed, she made a split-second decision and released Dirk, her second Kirlia.

Instead of curtseying like his sister, Dirk turned his side to the opponent and put his hands up, like fists. Brienne rolled her eyes.

Korrina’s expression very obviously said she thought that was cute, though she kept from saying anything. “Machoke, leer!”

“ _Leer?_ Seriously?” Brienne choked on a scoff as she felt and saw Dirk shudder, though he shook it off as quickly as he could. “Okay then, hit and run, Dirk!”

Dirk was a tiny, two-foot blur of white, green, and pink as he dashed in, little bullet-shots of confusion pinging off the Machoke’s large frame.

“Slow it down, rock tomb!”

“Old news! You know what to do,” Brienne replied, confident enough in the early stage.

The poor arena floor was the true victim in this attack, as the Machoke stamped _hard_ to bring up large chunks of cement to bury Dirk in one spot. Soon the large rocks were flying at the small psychic-type, some three or four times his size.

Dirk slid to a stop, and sparkling green-and-pink leaves flew around his arms and extended, looking much like a sword. His eyes locked on the incoming rocks, and he leapt at them, slashing them to pieces with his grass-typed attack. The rocks fell around him with a clatter, much, much smaller than they had been.

Korrina pouted. “Well, darn. Grant must have had a field day with you.”

Brienne laughed. “Yup! Now, Dirk, pick up some rocks and return fire!”

_“What?”_

“Rock throw! It’s not hard, pick up a rock and throw it! The more we bruise that bruiser, the better!”

Dirk snorted and did as told, showing he had an impressive fastball pitch for anything snowball sized or smaller. The Machoke’s defense to this was to punch any rocks he could see to dust, the ones he missed pelting his head and legs.

“Now throw some confusions in there for good measure. Keep’em bullet fast!” Brienne grinned. The Machoke just didn’t have much in the way of speed, and there was no way it could catch Dirk on a good day, so any physical moves were a no-go for Korrina. It was just a matter of keeping out of reach, and pelting the Machoke with small psychic attacks.

Both Dirk and Kanaya wouldn’t come into their true power until they evolved one more time, their speed being their best weapon right now.

Eventually, after a game of cat-and-mouse, the Machoke became too bruised to continue.

“Round two goes to the second Kirlia!” The referee called. “You don’t happen to have a _third_ Kirlia, do you?”

“No, that’s it for those two!”

“I should have guessed that would happen,” Korrina said ruefully. “Machoke doesn’t do well against speedsters, and I was banking that you wouldn’t use someone I had seen yesterday.”

Dirk returned to his trainer’s side with a short bow.

“Release your final Pokemon!”

“Here’s _my_ speedster, hope you’re ready for her!”

The pokeball flashed, and a Hawlucha appeared, immediately taking to the high ceiling of the gym.

Fighting _and_ flying. This would be a little bit tricky. Welp, batter up.

“Go, Dresden!”

The Braixen flashed onto the field and for a moment was very confused, before Brienne pointed up. She could see the ‘oh dear’ go over the fire-fox’s face in a sigh.

Hawlucha wasted _no_ time once it was noticed, and swooped down, making contact with _two_ power-up punches in quick succession, bouncing off the arena floor and back into the air before Dresden could recover.

Dresden stood tall, however, and glared daggers at the bird.

“Make for some nasty flying!” Brienne called.

Dresden gripped his staff and tucked it under one arm like a rifle, aiming bursts of fire into the air in the Hawlucha’s flight path. It forced the Hawlucha to constantly land early.

The fighting-type birds weren’t true fliers, able to turn on a dime in the air. They were gliders, and if something made them land and _kept_ them there, it made for a difficult time.

One burst of fire made contact, and the Hawlucha screeched as one wing caught on fire.

“Knock it out of the air, use psybeam!”

Dresden’s pose didn’t change, but the attack coming out of his staff did, going from flames to purple-hued light.

“Dodge, and flying press!”

The Hawlucha practically _fell_ out of the air, zeroed in on the Braixen, and called a war cry. The psybeam missed by an inch.

It looked like the devastating twin-typed attack would hit, until Dresden flipped his staff around and whacked the hawk-like pokemon like a baseball. Hawlucha bounced across the arena and fell in a hole the Machoke from last round had made with rock tomb.

Both challenger and gym leader’s jaws hit the ground. Korrina recovered first.

“Get another power-up punch in!”

A green and red bullet _zipped_ out of the hole and hit Dresden square in the middle. He fell over, but retaliated with a fire spin that kept Hawlucha trapped on the spot.

Five seconds later, Thanksgiving came early.

As the smell of burned feathers wafted into the air, the referee called the battle.

“Braixen wins the battle, the challenger wins the match!”

Korrina sighed, smiled, and returned her Hawlucha. “Very well done, Brienne.”

Dresden, from his position on the ground, giggled, punch-drunk.

“Thanks,” she grinned, giddy, and returned her fire-fox. “Though a lot of that was just Dresden. He’s like that.”

“So I see. You did well for your third-badge battle, and you have a lot of potential. It’s what I was looking for.” She grinned, having approached from the other side of the field, and held out a fist, parallel to the ground. “Alack, alay, Lady Korrina gave a terrible display!” She snickered. “Here’s the rumble badge. You keep going like this, and you’ll be rolling in’em soon!”

Brienne cradled it in both hands, taking in the sight of two gloved fists, and carefully put it in her badge case. “Thank you. That was a good battle.”

“You were very much ready for me,” she hummed, and then sighed. “Look...I do have to apologize. You'll have to make it up to the top of the Tower of Mastery if you want the Mega Ring. I'm sorry for sending you this way and that.” Korrina briefly bit her lip, looking truly apologetic. “I swear, I'm not giving you the runaround! You've done great rolling with the punches. So great that I'd like to ask you a favor… Battle me again, won't you? But this time, it won't be just another Gym Battle… I want a battle between equals! As two Trainers who can use Mega Evolution! I'll be waiting for you with Lucario at the top of the Tower of Mastery!"

A little bit of confusion wandered into her mind. How would they battle as equals? Brienne knew that the gym challenges were tailored to how many badges a trainer had. Less badges, easier battle, though it never feels like it at the time.

Korrina nudged Brienne with an elbow. “Don’t look so lost. I’ve got _two_ Lucario, remember? And one of them really likes you.”

“Oh!” Brienne blushed.

“Now, put your skates back on, and head to the Pokemon Center. I’ll see you at the Tower when you’re ready.”

“ _I have to skate out of here?_ ”

“Yup!” Korrina giggled. “How else do I get my giggles?”

Brienne rolled her eyes and sat down to fight with her skates again.

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended on a really bright note, even if it seems it cut off early. It hit my bench mark of 5K words, so I stopped there. The Tower of Mastery will be next chapter. (And yes, Sushifoumi is a real restaurant in France.)
> 
> So. IRL.  
> Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, and if it wasn't happy, perhaps at least you survived it without strangling the arses in your family.  
> Hell in a hand basket was delivered by cheeto-covered, itty-bitty fingers to the White House. Trump is President-Elect. Even worse are the people who will be supporting him, within government and out. The next four years will be hard. Very hard. I won't say it's going to be okay. It's not. It's gonna be a bitch. NOTHING about this okay.  
> You are not alone. The Very Best Thing we can do is unite. Watch out for your friends, family, and family-of-the-spirit. Things will hurt. We'll bleed. But fuck, we're the underdog, we've got the loudest voices on the planet, and We Will Not Be Silenced.  
> Do not go gentle into that good night. Grab a torch and a loudspeaker and SCREAM.


	19. Do You Got Room For One More Troubled Soul?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tower of Mastery and Mega-Evolution. 
> 
> Oh, child of two worlds, where will you choose?  
> What path will you follow, whose love will you loose?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Winter Solstice everyone! Yeah, even I wasn't expecting to update again so soon. Enjoy the chapter, keep warm, and remember, it's always darkest before the dawn.

The skates came  _ off _ the second she was out of the gym proper.

~*~

Entering the grounds of the Tower of Mastery a second time sent more shocks of static electricity up her arms, and Brienne winced, glaring at the brick that made up the archway. She rubbed down her arms fiercely, to the concerns of those around her-- _ who hadn’t been shocked. _

“You okay, Bri?” Shauna placed her hand on her shoulder.

“...You weren’t just zapped by electricity, were you?”

“No? Maybe there’s a Joltik nearby who doesn’t like you?” Her head tilted slightly as her eyes narrowed and started to look for  _ something _ on the wall. 

“What’s a Joltik?”

Both Trevor and Shauna stared at her. “You  _ sound _ like you’re from Unova...Joltik are super-common there…” Trevor trailed off, confused.

Brienne blushed but didn’t comment, instead scurrying off towards the tower entrance. She  _ really _ couldn’t cover for why she didn’t know, well, frankly, a lot that she should. Including whatever the hell Joltik were. She wondered if she could just...borrow Trevor’s research for a little while.

The second she stepped into the threshold of the tower, a second, stronger  _ thrum _ of power swamped her, shot up both arms and raced down her spine, stopping her in her tracks again. She swallowed in a breath, and felt it vibrate in time with the air in her lungs, a nervous pluck. A deeper breath, and with it came a stronger strum, deep brassy notes from an acoustic guitar. Resonation.

A quiet, soft chuff, and a Lucario came out of the shadows to her left.  It’s-- _ his _ \--eyes crinkled in the corners in a smile, and he held out a paw. 

**_“ <It’s always like that the first few times, I think. It was for me and my brother. It was a little bit for Korrina, as well, but she brushed it off, and it never happened again.>”_ ** He took her hand and gently tugged her out of the threshold, into the tower proper, close enough for their limbs to hang loose but still hold on to each other.  **_“ <This tower was built by those gifted strongly in life energies, and it still resonates with those that are blessed by the gods to this day. He has it, as well,>”_ ** The Lucario pointed with a toss of his snout towards Calem, who came up on Brienne’s right.  **_“ <But he has not mentioned it. I sense...a sort of separation here. Perhaps, had Calem been the stronger of the two of you, my brother would have gone with him.>”_ A sigh. _“ <Many, many things were lost three-thousand years ago, when a great war took so much life from Kalos. So much so that we don’t even have records of it, just that it _was _lost. >”_**

“Life energy?” Brienne furrowed her brows. “Chi?”

Calem stared intently at the two, mouth pursed. 

_**“ <I have heard it called that, yes. I wish I could tell you more, but any records that may survive are in Sinnoh, the last strong bastion.>”** _ He sighed, and the let the heaviness that had sunk onto his shoulders go.  _ “ **< I am to guide you to the top of the Tower. Korrina is waiting there for you. Only you.>”** _ His eyes landed on Calem, and then the other three.  **_“ <I apologize, but this part of the ceremony is a private ritual. Brienne may tell you what happened afterwards, we do not require confidentiality, but witnessing is to a sacred few.>”_ **

Calem nodded and wrapped Shauna in a hug from behind, in an odd show of forward affection. Both Trevor and Tierno smiled, and then Trevor huffed as Tierno plopped his elbow on Trevor’s shoulder and  _ leaned. _ Somehow the shorter redhead didn’t fall over. 

Brienne stared at the group, and wished for a moment she had her violin, to hide just how she felt. The angle one had to hold the violin against the chin and shoulder would hide the way her face was crumpling up just now, and she dropped her head in the hopes her bangs would hide her expression.

She wasn’t making any sound yet. Maybe they’d just mistake it as nerves. Hopefully.  _ Please. _

She felt the Lucario holding her hand squeeze it gently before Shauna tugged her way out of Calem’s hold and cupped Brienne’s cheeks in her palms. 

“Oh love, no, don’t cry, don’t cry, it’s alright…”

Oh,  _ dammit, _ Shauna noticed.

_ I don’t deserve this! _ One part of her cried.  _ I just want to go home! I don’t need this, I shouldn’t be special this way, I’m just going to drop it all and vanish… _

She pressed wet eyes into one of Shauna’s hands. “You are beautiful, Shauna Devaux. So,  _ so _ beautiful…” she whispered instead, using that truth to hide another. It was part of what had triggered the feeling, at least. 

Shauna snorted. “You make it sound like you’re going away and never coming back.  _ What _ has you so upset?”

There was no way she was answering that. She couldn’t. It hurt just to think about it.

A hard sniff, and Brienne straightened, a visibly forced smile on her face. “I won’t be too long! Wish me luck!” She nearly tugged the Lucario off balance as she went towards the spiral ramp leading up, refusing to look back. 

**_“ <You are upset at more than that,>”_ ** he said softly to her, a floor away from any ears.

“...Yes,” she replied after a moment. 

**_“ <Will you tell me?>”_ **

“...Maybe. Perhaps yes. Later, however, with privacy.” She rubbed at her face, eliminating as best she could the last traces of tears from her cheeks. Korrina would wonder why she had cried, and she had looked weak in front of  _ enough _ strangers, thank you very much. 

**_“ <...I have come upon a name I might like. I will tell it to you, perhaps soon.>”_ **

Her best smile was weak, at the moment, but growing stronger. “I’d like that.”

**_“ <We have quite a bit of a walk to the top. You do have time to compose yourself.>”_ **

Brienne ran a hand through her hair, tugged at the ends, and tilted her head back to glance at the great archway at the top of the tower. “Thank you,” she murmured, and glanced at the Lucario. “Why me? You’ve been curious about me ever since you saw me. How did you know where I was from? It can’t be just because ‘I have power,’ even you said Calem has it, and Korrina. I did a little research, Riolu only evolve if they have a strong connection with their trainer. You have to have a tight bond with Korrina. Your interest in me makes little sense.”

The two continued to walk up the spiral in silence, only just now reaching the third ‘floor’ of it, as the Lucario considered his answer. 

**_“ <A lot of it is curiosity, I admit. You have a very different perspective on things. Your skills in battle, how you command your team. Prowess in battle is attractive to many Pokemon. It is a wonder you do not already have a full team, and then some. We were all born to battle. To defend young ones, to attract mates. This...Pokemon League simply lets us glory in our skills without the risk of extreme injury or death. We enjoy the battles. Korrina enjoys a battle, but she has no interest to explore. Her life is here, and she is content with that. I am not. As for how I knew where you were from, even though I have never heard of the place...I could see it in your mind. The great rolling hills with the horizon of ancient forested mountains in the distance, the beauty of the river and streams. The vibrancy of the city, where art is given free rein--no matter if in food, music, or painting. The heavy heat of the summer, the biting chill of winter, I could see all of it in your mind. You have focused on that so strongly, it is a wonder you do not sing it aloud!>”_ **

“I miss home so much…” she replied, now just on the fifth floor. “I guess that answers my question. Okay. Thank you.”

The Lucario barred her way to the sixth and final floor, the archway just behind him.  _ “ **< I have one question for you in return. It will be vital to what is about to take place.>”** _

She blinked. “Shoot.”

**_“ <Do you trust me?>”_ **

She froze, as if having walked into a wall. Did she?

“...Do you?”

Lucario’s eyes crinkled in the corners again.  _ **“ <Yes.>”** _ He turned, opened the double-doors and strode forward, momentarily disappearing from Brienne’s sight. 

She followed after, still feeling like she was about to receive a gift she didn’t quite deserve.

It was the view that caught her attention before anything else. To the east, all of Kalos was spread before them, the cave-riddled cliffs that separated the coastal cities from the pastoral towns easily within sight. Tree branches moved in tandem with the breeze off the ocean. The sun rose high in the sky, eliminating shadows on the hills. Light flickered off worn-smooth angles of the stones from Geosenge, visible even from this distance. The smell of salt eased here, mixed with cleaner air of higher altitude, crisp and sharp in her nose. She shivered, chilled slightly even in the heat of summer by the breeze. 

“Thanks for coming up here,” Korrina said softly, another Lucario by her side. The Lucario that had escorted her up the tower stood in the midpoint, very center of a marble mosaic. “I really love this place,” she said, glancing over the distance. “When I’m here with my Pokemon, looking at the wide-open sky above, all my worries disappear, and I feel like I can do anything.”

“I feel like I could fly…” Brienne whispered.

“Long ago, it was decided that this must be the place where the Mega-Ring is handed over. Something about never forgetting to set our sights as high as the sky. I think it’s more so we don’t get lost in the minutiae of everyday, or forget that we are truly humble beings simply reaching for the stars,” she shrugged. “I have the Mega-Ring here, if you are willing to take it.” Korrina held her right hand out and a simple silver cuff bracelet sat there. In the center of the metal, a large rainbow-hued stone was embedded. 

“Why do  _ you _ think I deserve it?” she asked, throat tight.

Korrina folded her arms, bracelet dangling from a few fingers. “You have the skill and trust in your team. It’s visible to see. You’re innovative. Creative. I think you’ll go far. I want to see that.”

It took all her willpower to cross the balcony and meet Korrina by the railing, breath slowly stolen away by the height. Brienne had never been afraid of heights, but something here wrapped around the core of her and held on. 

The wind blew strands of hair way from her face as she looked down upon the bracelet in Korrina’s hand. “Trust, huh?” 

The metal was cold in her fingers, and sent a wave of goosebumps up her right arm as she slipped it on. The stone in the center seemed to glow from the inside, a double-helix of color and light. 

**_“ <Korrina,>”_ ** the Lucario at the center of the balcony said softly.

“I know. You want to go with her. I think I’ve known for a while.” She smiled and shook her head.

“<Brother! You would go? With  _ this _ chit? She can’t even fight hand-to-hand!>”

**_“ <She can learn. She will.>”_ **

“<She doubts!>”

**_“ <Herself, not her team.>”_ **

“<I see. Prove it, then.>”

“Wait,  _ what? _ ” Brienne squeaked. 

“They want to battle each other,” Korrina answered. “To prove you’re worthy of that Lucario going with you. Will you aid him?”

_ Is this what he meant by trust? _ “...I will.”

Again the energy she felt at the threshold of the Tower swamped her and rode on her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck rose to attention, and she didn’t notice it when her feet took her back to the doors of the balcony, once more two trainers facing each other. 

The wind rose. The two Lucario stared each other down, red glares locked. They waited for the right moment. 

Unbidden, Brienne’s fingertips found themselves pressed to the stone of the Mega-Ring as she thought about the Lucario in front of her. He had her same curiosity, her thirst for challenge. That  _ need _ to run against an opponent on a razor wire, where any misstep could throw you down to ruin. The joy of creation, the excitement where something  _ new _ would be revealed, just for the sheer pleasure of it. His pensiveness, and the need to meditate over certain questions where the answer was not readily apparent. 

A  _ great _ flash of orange light from both Lucario in the center, and she gasped. Multi-colored energy swirled into a double helix around both Lucario and they let out haunting howls. To any outsider, the sound  _ must _ have meant they were in such pain, if it wasn’t for the cotton-candy electric feeling in her mouth that told her this was  _ anything _ but painful. The light dissipated, and she saw darker patches of blue on both Lucario, so dark they were nearly black, their paws stained red like blood, more spikes, and longer dreadlocks dipped in red. The evolution  _ screamed _ deadly warrior.

From there Brienne lost sight of the battle. There  _ was _ no following the battle, not with the sheer explosion of energy in her belly, far more than any gym-battle adrenaline rush had given her, one that enveloped her heart and reached out to the Lucario in front of her, fueling the strikes against his brother. 

A breath, a heartbeat that heralded one final punch, a solid  _ ‘thwap’ _ to a steel skeleton; it ended with one lupine Pokemon falling to one knee.

“<I yield, Brother. I understand.>”

The other Lucario snorted hard, a release of tension from the fight.  _ “ **< I will miss you.>”** _

“<And I, you.>” Korrina’s Lucario stood, slowly, fighting a wince, and faced his brother. The two locked gazes, before leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. 

Brienne swallowed, eyes wide and misty, as the Mega-Evolution faded away, the two brothers unmoved by the reversion. Oh, she did not deserve this trust. This faith.

Korrina stepped up as the two brothers parted, handed one Lucario a pokeball and pulled him in for a gentle hug, just barely aware of the steel spike in the middle of his chest. 

“I know you’ve chosen well, my friend. Stay strong, and know you always have a home here,” Korrina said.

**_“ <I know. You will _always _be important to me, Korrina. Be safe. Fight well. >”_** One brief moment more, and the two pulled apart, Lucario stepping back and away to stand by Brienne. 

Korrina smiled at the both of them. “I am proud of you both. There is nothing that can keep the two of you back. I look forward to seeing you soar.”

Brienne for once was speechless, throat locked with gratitude. She nodded, turned back to the balcony door, and stepped forward. Lucario kept to her side, and neither one of them turned back as they descended down the tower. 

**_“ <I wish to be called Marcone,>”_ ** the Lucario said as he took Brienne’s hand once again.  **_“ <Marc, perhaps, for short.>”_ **

“It’s good to meet you, Marcone. Welcome to the team.”

~*~

“Calem, stop pacing. She’ll be back down in no time,” Shauna fussed. “You’re making me dizzy.”

He  _ did _ stop pacing, but only because of the plaintive note in the younger girl’s voice. He really was making her dizzy, and it was just another check to ‘something is wrong with Shauna.’ But every time he gave her a questioning look she brushed it off. It irritated him.

Even more irritating was Brienne’s reaction to  _ finally _ being able to receive a Keystone. Tears?  _ It made no sense! _ She’d been gung-ho about it yesterday, all but steamrolled him flat in a match--Dirk was  _ terrifying _ , he’d have to get something with Trick Room to deal with that--and had gladly skipped off to a date with Shauna afterwards. Her battle with Korrina had been more of what had toppled him, hard-to-hit psychics and unorthodox fight tactics. 

A quiet, one-sided conversation had him pause not far from the base of the ramp up the tower. His fists clenched once, and he forcibly relaxed them. He was going to figure out just  _ what _ had upset the short blonde, and then stomp on it. 

He hadn’t expected that Lucario to still be there. Was this part of the ritual too? Why was it holding her hand?

Brienne stepped off the ramp, even with the Lucario, expression pale and dazed. Something inside him growled, and he hurriedly stomped on that, as well. 

“This...this is Marcone. He’s joining my team,” she said, voice subdued. 

Forget figuring it out. He was gonna get it out of Brienne.

The Lucario caught  _ something  _ from him and shook his head the tiniest bit. 

“I got the Keystone!” she added in a slightly more energetic voice. “I’m gonna spend the rest of the day getting my team acquainted with Marc, here. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Hand still clutching the Lucario’s paw, she dashed out of the tower, brushing roughly by Shauna, Trevor  _ and _ Tierno. It was like she hadn’t even seen him. He spun on his heel and stared at the two quickly disappearing backs, stunned. 

“Lady Bri!” Shauna called, and made to run after her, only to be held back by Tierno. “Let me go after her! She’s hurting!”

“I know. But this is something she wants to deal with alone.” Tierno said, face unusually grave. 

Shauna stomped one foot. “Did you  _ see _ her face?”

“You didn’t see her when she got here. I told you she didn’t have it easy. Curled up and almost completely unresponsive. She didn’t really wake up until I got her into a room at the Center. Like I’d feel if someone had shoved every single tease and bully-moment in my life into one single point and  _ hit _ me with it. She’s got her team to help her, and if we don’t see her at dinner we can go looking for her.” Tierno decided, arms folded.

“Lucario are known for being good councilors. If she needs someone to talk to, it seems ‘Marcone’ is already on the ‘ball for that.” Trevor added.

“...Why can’t she talk to me?” Shauna asked, softly, for a moment looking heartbroken. 

Calem snorted mentally. “Sometimes it’s hard to talk about things that hurt  _ us _ to the ones we love.” Okay maybe that was a little sharp of him, but it was a very good point. 

Shauna grumbled and folded her arms. 

~*~

Brienne ran.

At some point, she’d let go of Marcone’s paw as she angled for the thin beachline that Shalour City boasted. Little rows of rustic homes peppered the top of the yellow-brown cliffs, vines climbing up to terra cotta roofs. The sounds of her labored, frustrated gasps bounced off wave-roughened rock, into her ears and mixed with the crashing tide. Her toes dug into the sand, dragged her down, made her stagger.

She only stopped when her legs couldn’t take more. Her eyes clamped shut with tears, her knees wobbled while she fought to stay standing, and her fingernails dug into her palms. 

“I want to go  _ home, _ ” she moaned, lowly.

A crunch of sand just behind her--Marcone. She ignored him for the time being and bared her teeth in an opened-mouth grimace of pain. Something built itself in the middle of her chest, just under her diaphragm, a little ball of force that would express itself as sound. She just wasn’t sure if it’d be a scream or something to squeak into song. 

Song.  _ Song. _ It had to be song. A scream would have her throat bleed by the time she was done.

“I close my eyes...Only for a moment and the moment’s gone…” Small, squeaky, no breath support. Oh how it  _ hurt. _ “All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity...Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind…”

The humming chorus gave her time to breathe and ratchet up the volume to a yell, her head thrown back as she cried. “Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea! All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see. Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.” 

The last note ended in a sob, and she crumpled, only for steel-firm arms to catch her around the waist. 

**_“ <Where is home?”>_ ** Marcone asked, softly.  _ “ **< That you are so despondent that you will never return.>”** _

“Far, far away…” she croaked. One arm motioned toward the sky. “Somewhere out there.”

A pause. A very long pause.  **_“ <Oh.>” _ **

“Yeah,” she snorted, cynically amused at his shock, and slowly got her feet under her again. “‘Oh,’ is right.”

Marcone made sure that she was steady again before letting go of her waist, one paw remaining on the small of her back in support. 

“...I never really  _ asked _ for something like this. I was...not content, exactly, but I knew what to do back home. Here it’s all been dashed to pieces and I’m scrambling around looking for an answer.” She sighed, and glanced at the Lucario next to her. “I’m sorry for all the drama so soon. It’s just. It felt like I could feel all the emotions in the room and it was too much for me. And I just want to go somewhere where I know who and what I am.”

**_“ <You are Brienne. Trainer. Friend. Perhaps even parent.>”_ **

Brienne raised one eyebrow. “Am I?”

**_“ <You are what you want to be. If you do not know, simply choose, and do. It is what you _do _that matters. >”_** Marcone shrugged one shoulder and rubbed small, slow circles into her lower back. 

“You make it sound so easy,” she sighed, and rubbed at her face again.

**_“ <Why does it have to be hard? I can not imagine the pain you are going through right now. I hope that you will give me the time to learn. But, even so, you _have _support here. You do not need to tell the others I saw where you are from, just that you hurt. >”_**

“...I suppose.” A glance over the ocean told her it was starting to get late into the afternoon. She would need to return to the city proper and show herself to her friends again. After a short walk through the city, if nothing else. Just to get her composure back together. 

“Do you want to keep walking with me, or do you want to go into your ‘ball?” she asked Marcone, steadily meeting his eyes. 

**_“ <I will walk with you a little more. If this is the last time I see Shalour for a while, I want to see it for a little while longer.>”_ **

“I understand that. C’mon,” she held her hand out again, and he, after a moment, took it.

She missed the warmth at her back.

~*~

Early evening found her back on the same beach, sun glimmering on the surface of the sea, exuberant voices that bounced off cliff walls washing over her ears and into her mind. A fire crackled merrily in a bonfire pit just out of reach of the tide, blankets nearby laid out with containers and containers of food on top. Five teams worth of Pokemon played, scampered, or napped in the sand and surf.

Brienne, for once, had her shoes off at the beach, toes dug into the remarkably fine sand that felt more like baby powder than miniscule grains of rock. The day’s heat radiated up and warmed her where the cooling evening’s wind blew across her skin. She leaned back, hands supporting her weight behind her, and stared at the darkening sky, already spotting the first evening stars glimmering in the light lavender sky. 

Sand shifted to her right. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

She let her head tilt over a little bit. Bright orange hair and grey eyes that reflected the same light as the ocean blinked back at her. 

“Oh, it’s gorgeous. I never thought the sky could be so clear so close to a city,” she said, a small smile on her face.

Trevor hummed. “A couple more hours and you’ll be able to see the Horns of Xerneas. It’ll be about half-way up the sky. Only the western half of Kalos can see that constellation in the summer, and people come all the time to see it. It’s quite a sight.”

“How come?”

“And ruin the surprise?” Trevor grinned. “I’ll point it out to you later.”

“Astronomy tease,” she pouted.

Trevor threw back his head and laughed. The action became contagious, Brienne giggling and poking Trevor in the side. The redhead twitched and flopped on his stomach in reaction. 

“Tickle me and die, woman,” he warned. 

Her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head. “ _ Fiiiiine, _ ” she huffed. 

Waves crashed gently on the shore. Brienne spotted Shauna, Saturn, and her Quilladin all napping in a pile just far enough away from the fire to not be harmful to the grass-types. Dresden entertained a small audience of pokemon with puppet figures made of fire, his staff a baton. 

Calem could be seen parsing out food onto plates, larger ones for the humans and smaller ones for the pokemon. Tierno was just now reappearing in the distance, a large package held in his arms. 

“We’re worried about you, Brienne,” Trevor said softly, snapping the blonde out of her daze.

Her stomach churned as she glanced at him. He hadn’t turned to her, observing the play of light and shadows on the cliff face behind them. 

“I mean, we’re happy for you too. Look at you! Three badges in two months, a keystone for mega-evolution, and a full team of six pokemon. It’s impressive.  _ Especially _ for someone who’s barely got any experience with pokemon.”

Brienne jolted and the churning in her stomach turned into a cramp. 

Trevor must have read her face. “Give me a  _ little _ credit, c’mon. You review your pokedex as much as humanly possible, and your trainer’s handbook is very well-thumbed. Calem’s is barely touched. Not only that, you do nearly as much research as I do at every Center you stop at.”

She blinked. “Okay?” So he had half the story. The cramp in her stomach eased a bit.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s okay to ask for help.”

A snort broke free. “I know. Marcone reminded me of that today.”

“Marcone?”

“Lucario,” Brienne answered shortly. Said Lucario’s ears perked up briefly from his relaxed position next to Calem and the two were quietly talking. When he glanced over her way, she waved him off and he nodded. 

The silence grew between them. It seemed Trevor wasn’t letting this subject go. Not now. 

She swallowed. “It’s...not that I’m overwhelmed. I’m not. I’m okay with the hiking and the camping and the training and my team. They’re great.”

“Then…?” Trevor’s eyes finally landed on her face, and she looked away.

“...It’s personal. But I could use a hug now and then, I guess.” She shrugged, trying to play it off.

“Okay,” he answered, and before she knew it his arms were wrapped around her middle and his weight made her fall to the sand, flat on her back.

“Um, hi?” His head was pillowed on her chest, but he didn’t seem to care. 

“You said you needed a hug. I’m giving you one.”

Was the tide already high enough to splash on her face? Her cheeks were wet for absolutely no good reason. She bit her lip. “Thank you, Trevor. I can’t exactly hug you back like this, though.”

“That’s okay. You can hug me when we get up. I’m kind of comfortable right now.” She could  _ feel _ his grin. 

“That’s because you’re on my chest,” she commented dryly. 

“It’s a nice chest. I mean, Tierno is a  _ great _ cuddler, but he doesn’t have these. And I really just want a good cuddle with some  _ squish _ . You get it?”

She  _ thought _ she did. “You’re gay, right?”

“Oh, yeah, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not perving on you. I fart rainbows.”

She sniggered, and Trevor’s head bounced up and down a little. “Yeah, you’re cool.”

Tierno finally made it to the bonfire as Brienne quickly wiped at her face, and carefully put the large, oblong package he’d been carrying into the sand like he was stowing a surfboard. 

“Food’s up!” Calem called, waking Shauna up from her nap. The taller girl all but  _ rolled _ from her place against Saturn to where there was a plate waiting for her.

Trevor mumbled a quiet complaint but got up off Brienne, stood, and offered a hand to help her up. 

She took it and stood up, brushing all the sand off her back and legs. The sand that had gotten into her hair would have to wait until she got in a shower. Now her scalp itched. 

Tierno grinned up at them as they finally joined the group at the bonfire. “I got us a little extra in celebration!” Glasses clinked together as he held up two sets of six bottles. “Combee honey mead and Leppa cider! The harder liquor was a little out of my price range,” he pouted.

Brienne blinked in surprise, finger food on a plate in her lap. “What’s the drinking age here?”

“Depends on your parents. Some kids start drinking watered wine early, but it’s legal to buy your own with parent permission at seventeen. Eighteen without.” Trevor answered without missing a beat. 

“Huh. Pass a mead, Tierno, please.” Just because she didn’t like  _ most _ alcohol didn’t mean she wouldn’t pass up a good mead. Beer really just tasted like bitter carbonated piss to her.

And she was a bit of a lightweight. But one drink wouldn’t hurt. Or, at least, she wouldn’t start flirting with Shauna  _ and _ Calem at the same time. 

Okay, she  _ said _ flirting but it was more like discreet groping and lots of very affectionate nuzzles. She knew this from experience. And sand was a horrible thing to deal with when trying to grope. One bad move, and it got into places sand should  _ never _ go. 

The sliders, hot dogs, and various veggies went down easily, and for a little while the group and pokemon were quiet as they ate. Why was the broccoli orange? Just... _ why _ ? Brienne ate it anyway.

Tierno burped and sighed happily. “That was good. Hey, Lady Bri, d’ya think you can play tonight? I brought the piano.”

“ _ That’s _ what that is?” She eyed the rectangular shape, outlined by the fire. “Electric? I assume it’s charged.”

“Yup. All ready to go.” Tierno grinned and popped open another brown-hued bottle.  _ He _ was probably not a lightweight. Frankly he looked like he could drink them all under the table and then some. 

“Please, Bri?” Shauna asked quietly.

That did it. There go her heartstrings, tugged in all sorts of directions. “Yeah, okay. I’ll play. Lemme unpack it. Still got some time before the Horns, Trev’?” 

“Yup. Sun’s only just set.”

Calem hummed. “She hasn’t seen the Horns before? Well.”

Brienne could  _ feel _ his grin on the back of her neck. The shit.

With the light from the bonfire, she was able to find the power button to the piano. The extra controls were LED and sort of killed her night vision, but after a few experimental taps on the keyboard, it was already on a classic piano setting, and she didn’t need to bother with looking down at her hands for a while.  

The song she wanted to play came to her easily. 

_ “And the heart is hard to translate, _ _   
_ _ It has a language of its own.  _ _   
_ _ It talks in tongues and quiet sighs, _ _   
_ _ And prayers and proclamations. _ _   
_ _ In the grand days of great men and the smallest of gestures, _ _   
_ __ In short, shallow gasps.

_ But with all my education I can’t seem to command it. _ _   
_ _ And the words are all escaping, and coming back all damaged _ _   
_ _ And I would put them back in poetry if I only knew how, _ _   
_ _ I can’t seem to understand it. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ And I would give all this and heaven too, _ _   
_ _ I would give it all if only for a moment. _ _   
_ _ That I could just understand the meaning of the word you see, _ _   
_ _ ‘Cause I’ve been scrawling it forever but it never makes sense to me at all _ _   
_ _   
_ _ And it talks to me in tiptoes, _ _   
_ _ And it sings to me inside, _ _   
_ _ It cries out in the darkest night and breaks in the morning light. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ But with all my education I can’t seem to command it. _ _   
_ _ And the words are all escaping, and coming back all damaged. _ _   
_ _ And I would put them back in poetry if I only knew how, _ _   
_ _ I can’t seem to understand it. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ And I would give all this and heaven too. _ _   
_ _ I would give it all if only for a moment, _ _   
_ _ That I could just understand the meaning of the word you see, _ _   
_ _ ‘Cause I’ve been scrawling it forever but it never makes sense to me at all. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ And I would give all this and heaven too _ _   
_ _ I would give it all if only for a moment _ _   
_ _ That I could just understand the meaning of the word you see _ _   
_ _ ‘Cause I’ve been scrawling it forever but it never makes sense to me at all _ _   
_ _   
_ _ No, words are a language _ _   
_ _ It doesn’t deserve such treatment _ _   
_ _ And all of my stumbling phrases never amounted to anything worth this feeling _ _   
_ _   
_ _ All this heaven never could describe such a feeling as I'm hearing _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Words were never so useful _ _   
_ __ So I was screaming out a language that I never knew existed before.”

Silence, again from her impromptu audience. The pokemon cheered and clapped politely, but the humans in the group stared at her, until Shauna got up and sat on her knees next to Brienne. She stared, intent on Brienne, until the shorter blonde met her eyes in the gloom. She leaned in and hugged her, carefully, treating her almost as glass and porcelain. 

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay to take your time figuring it out.”

“Thanks,” Brienne mumbled in reply. 

Shauna pulled away, and Brienne glanced just over her head and  _ gasped. _

“...Are those the Horns, Trevor?” Her voice quickly abandoned her.

“Yup.”

A light blue nebula, studded with white had inched its way over the horizon, branching out like a set of horns from the great white stag of faery myth. Bright clusters of gem-hued stars studded the branches of horns like jewels in a crown, shining pink and blue and yellow and orange. Smaller stars of white outlined the shape and sparkled like diamond dust. 

Brienne stood, abruptly dislodging the piano into the sand, and took a few careful steps west, bonfire at her back and full galaxy in her sight.

“That’s not just a constellation, Trevor…” she breathed. 

‘All this and heaven too,’ indeed, it seemed. For a moment the world spun wildly under her before steadying again. Something ancient and hereditary in the very deepest part of her mind saw the Horns and understood why this world had such a reverence for their Gods still. 

She didn’t realize she was trembling until Calem came up and put a hand on her shoulder. She startled, and stared wide-eyed at his face, mind still lost in the all-encompassing glory of the nebula called the ‘Horns of Xerneas.’

“At least it’s not a prophecy in a fire,” he joked quietly.

That broke her out of the stupor. “I’m not sure which is more shocking, frankly.” She grinned at him anyway. It was weak, but a grin nonetheless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Lyrics:  
> "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas  
> "All This and Heaven Too" by Florence and the Machine. Not mine, I'm not that awesome. 
> 
> By the way, if anyone wants to do any fanart for the Horns of Xerneas, feel free!


	20. "Trying To Find That Peace of Mind..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 20th Chapter!  
> Brienne makes the trip from Shalour to Courmarine with her new companion, Marcone. Memories and introspection are the theme of the day today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy COW guys, 20 chapters! When I started this fic, I never imagined I'd get this far. 100K+ words, and I'm only a third of the way through the main part of the first story. Yes, you read that right, this is going to be a SERIES.   
> Thanks for sticking with me so far. Please stay around. So much love to all my readers!   
> -HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGG-
> 
> Note: The Lapras misspellings are on purpose, to denote accent. Kthxbai.

The bed next to her dipped.

“Sleepyhead…” she heard, quiet. There was a poke to her forehead, then the gentle brush of fingers as strands of her hair were tucked behind the curve of her ear. “Wake up just a little bit for me.”

She whined and tugged the blanket closer, under her chin. When the presence just sighed and waited, she finally blinked open the one eye that wasn’t squished into the pillow. 

“Sh-na?” Brienne mumbled. “Wha?”

“I’m heading back to Lumiose. Didn’t want you to wake up and wonder where I was.”

“Mmmk.”

“Love you.”

“Luv ‘ou too.”

The weight next to her rose and vanished. Brienne fell back asleep in seconds.

~*~

Once again, the heavy weight of the travelling pack on her shoulders pulled her down, ever so slightly, so that she felt the press of her heels into the earth. She rolled her neck, sighed, and glanced at the deep blue sky. No clouds, which meant that unless she wanted to sport something of a sunburn later in the day, she needed to make it to Courmarine around noon. Thankfully, route twelve was one of the shortest routes she’d seen on the map, and it was only as  _ long _ as it was because it was made to skirt the edges of a ‘Baa de Mer’ ranch. 

The wind blew gently just outside the gate to Shalour city, bringing with it the scent of sea salt and farm manure--not altogether an unpleasant mix--and brushed tendrils of hair across Brienne’s cheeks. She tapped the toe of her shoe against the ground, checking the fit one last time, and nodded to Marcone next to her.

“Well, ready?”

**_“ <I suppose I am.>”_ ** At that, Marcone led her directly east, towards the inlet that led to Azure Bay and Courmarine City, the last city in Kalos’ coastal region.

**_“ <So, how is this supposed to go? Korrina had a very specific regimen when it came to training, but I suspect you have something very different in mind,>”_ ** Marcone tilted his head over his shoulder, an ear cocked back for her voice. 

“Weeeeellll,” she trailed off. “I  _ kinda _ have an idea of your fighting style, from your brother, but I want to see what  _ you _ can do. Then I want to see what you  _ think _ you can do. And then I’m going to ask you to do things you  _ don’t _ think you can do. Like dancing. I’m going to teach you to dance. Eventually. I swear, it helps!”

He paused in front of her, framed by the inlet shore, and crossed his arms.  **_“ <Dancing.>”_ **

“Yup. How’d you think Kanaya keeps from getting hit?” She grinned at him. “I promise, it’s not that bad. And I can’t very well either, so you won’t be alone when you trip over your own feet.”

His eyes squinted for a moment as he let this idea roll around in his brain.  **_“ <Very well. Now, how do you suppose we are going to cross the inlet? It is too deep to ford.>”_ **

Brienne met him at the shore, feet sinking slightly into the sand, and peered thoughtfully at the water and the far beach. “You mean, I can’t just  _ swim _ across? It’s not that far.”

Marcone shook his head.  **_“ <The current is much too strong, and there is a chance you could be attacked by tentacool. It would not be wise.>”_ **

“...But there’s someone swimming right there?”

The aura-sensing dreadlocks on Marcone’s head glowed and rose a few inches as he peered at the swimmer.  **_“ <He has a Lanturn with him, swimming just below as a guard. With electric and possible psychic attacks at his disposal, the swimmer is quite safe.>”_ **

“Ah. I see.” Brienne scrunched up her nose as she thought. This was a hard one.

The answer practically ran right into her.

“Ah! Hello! You want to swim? Laplas?” A tall man, with dark hair and a  _ very _ strong asian--to her ears--accent, bounded to her, very excited. “Go to shore? I help!” With that, he grabbed her hand and all but  _ dragged _ her straight to the water.

“Whoa, hold on!--”

Once there, he released her hand only to pull out a pokeball, revealing a ‘mon that looked like the offspring of the Loch Ness monster and some type of aquatic dinosaur. And a bad accident with light blue paint.

It called a hello, and Brienne fell in love in  _ seconds _ .

“Laplas!” the man called again, nearly bouncing on his feet. “We ride!”

“Marc?”

**_“ <It...should be fine. Lapras are known for this very thing. Her trainer is simply...enthusiastic.>”_ **

“Okay then.” She shrugged, and nodded at Lapras’ trainer.

He grinned and scrambled quickly onto its back, holding his hand out to her. She took it, and was more or less yanked on in front of him, Marcone joining the group in a quick hop. 

“Go, Laplas!”

The Lapras called out again and turned on a dime in the water. Brienne marvelled at how it felt like she was barely moving at all, sea spray on her face.

Sadly, the inlet was small, merely just deep enough to require a ferry, and the other shore came up within seconds. 

“Here you go! You ride again? I here.” The Lapras’ trainer seemed confident in his declaration as Brienne splashed down into the waves, Marcone just behind. 

“Thank you!”

~*~

Marcone nudged her shoulder when they both finally tromped up onto route twelve proper, and pointed.

**_“ <That’s the farmhouse for the Baa De Mer Ranch. They sell some fantastic cheeses and creams from the Skiddo.>”_ **

Brienne gave him the side-eye. “You like it, don’t you?”

**_“ <Well, yes.>”_ **

She grinned. “Okay, we’ll go buy some. Maybe they sell hats too. I forgot to pick one up in Shalour.”

Opening the door of the farmhouse and getting her first whiff of the sales floor was like walking into a hazy cloud of herbs, gentle incense, and the scent of good cheese. Not quite like walking into  _ The Owl’s Nest _ , in Frederick, but similar, with a welcome atmosphere that settled about her shoulders. Her footsteps tapped gently on a hardwood floor, eyes adjusting to the lower natural light that streamed in through windows covered in thin gauzy material and colored crystal suncatchers.

The clerk, an older woman with salt-and-pepper hair done up in multiple braids as a crown on her head, sat behind the counter reading a book, a Skiddo dozing softly at her feet. 

Brienne smiled at Marcone’s side and took in a deep breath. Just for a moment, she was home again. Her sigh was the signal to the clerk to slip a bookmark between the pages, set down the book, and smile brightly at her new customers. 

“Welcome to the Baa De Mer Ranch. Feel free to look around, or ask if you have any specific questions.”

Brienne nodded politely to the standard greeting, and put her hand on Marcone’s shoulder. “Go ahead and find what you want.”

Marcone beamed at her, his smile all in the eyes, and went to sniff the collection of cheese off to the left, eyes half-closed in concentration. She watched for a moment, curious as to what his tastes were, and then left him to it, eyeing the other stock. Her eyes roved over collections of berry preserves, jarred and dried, beeswax products, herb bundles, small collections of crystals, meditation bowls and mats, homemade candles, blank-paged journals with rough, yellowed paper, and a small collection of handmade crafts. She glimpsed a pile of colorful, wide-brimmed floppy hats and pounced on them, pulling out the only light-purple one there. It went on her head, fit well enough, and stayed there so she could still have her hands free.

Next was a couple small tubes of beeswax chapstick, oran and sitrus flavored. Third came a collection of dried and jam-preserve berries, as another way to help her team when they needed healing, instead of keeping fresh berries in her pack all the time. The messes she had to clean up when they got accidentally squished had not been fun.

Marcone raised an eyebrow when they met at the counter.

**_“ <I thought we were just here for some cheese?>”_ **

“Well, I needed a hat.” Brienne shrugged, balancing the three jars in her hands with the plastic-wrapped packages of dried berries. 

**_“ <And everything else?>”_ **

“I’m tired of having fresh fruit become messy,” she muttered in defense. Marcone snorted and put his hard cheese on the counter.

“Can I help you with anything else?” the clerk asked.

Brienne shook her head. 

“That will be ten thousand poke,” the clerk announced. Brienne’s eyebrows reached her hairline but was easily able to foot the bill after a little shuffling in her wallet. Being a good trainer was lucrative. Again, briefly, she wondered about how taxes worked here. 

“Thank you very much for coming to Baa De Mer Ranch. With every purchase, customers may have one free Skiddo ride. Feel free to take them all over the route, they come home afterwards.”

Brienne stared. “You’re serious?”

“Very. It’s how we promote our brand. Go ahead in back. There’ll be a couple of them waiting for you. I’m Mary, by the way.” She waved them both off as Brienne shoved her buys into her pack and made sure her new hat was securely on her head. 

“You up for the fast way to Courmarine?” she asked, eyeing the leafy, goat-like, sheep-like grass-type that stood nearly three feet tall. 

**_“ <I am if you are. Not sure how they’ll take to a Lucario riding them, though.>”_ **

“Well, can’t hurt too much to find out. Shall we?” Brienne crept slowly to one Skiddo and put her hand on its head. It ‘baa’ed at her quietly and nudged her hand, and gave no protest as she swung one leg over its middle. 

Its buddy shuffled a little as Marcone sat on his, but didn’t protest either. 

Brienne settled her hands carefully on the Skiddo’s horns. “How do I drive? Um, to Courmarine please--holy  _ shiiiiiiiiit! _ WOOOOO HOOOO!”

Both Skiddo shot out of their pen like rockets were attached to their back ends, went around the border of their fenced-in field, and then hopped the fence, headed due-east. Brienne pinned her hat to her head with one hand, bouncing back and forth on the back of the Skiddo, and screamed her head off in joy. The ride wasn’t  _ anything _ like smooth, and was probably a far cry from riding even a horse, but hell, it was  _ fun. _

She spotted a few trainers on the route, but mentally shrugged them off. She was having  _ way _ too much fun to dismount and battle them right now. And this was going to cut a couple hours off her trip, she was all for it.

The Skiddo went from fast, bumpy and wild into a slightly more sedate pace, something that could be kept up for long periods of time. When the wind proved soft enough to  _ not  _ rip her newly bought hat from her hair, Brienne put both hands on her Skiddo’s horns. The grass-type let out a small trill and skipped, once.

A flash of blue had her glance to the side where Marcone was holding on for dear life to his Skiddo. His eyes were squinched shut, head tucked between his shoulders as if he just  _ wished really hard _ , this would be over soon. The Skiddo he was on seemed absolutely oblivious to this.

She tried not to laugh. She really, really did.

~*~

The Skiddo daintily stopped within easy distance of Courmarine and bleated. Marcone  _ fell _ off his ride and kissed the ground like he worshipped it. Brienne slipped off with ease, only to groan and lean on her ride when her hips, lower back, and butt highly complained of the recent treatment. 

“I think god hates me,” she muttered, kneading at abused muscles. 

**_“ <Speak for yourself,>”_ ** Marcone grumbled back.  **_“ <I’m never getting on another Skiddo ever. Or anything like it. I will put myself in my pokeball first.>”_ **

Marcone’s Skiddo trotted away without another word. Brienne’s gave her a friendly nip on the arm and followed its partner. 

“C’mon. I wanna find the Pokemon Center and try to sink into the first bed they give me. Oh god my ass…” Her first few steps were minced as she stretched out sore muscles. She’d never ridden a horse in her life, and this had to be how it felt for first time riders. “Ow ow ow…On the upside, I think we beat Calem here, for once.”

**_“ <Do you have a rivalry with him or something?>”_** Marcone asked. 

“Yes. And he even asked for it. I don’t think he knew what he was getting into,” she giggled, steps going from grass to cobblestone as they walked into Courmarine proper. “The flirting I throw in on top to fluster him. He’s quite cute when he doesn’t know how to respond.”

**_“ <I see.>”_ **

“You sound very convinced,” Brienne said, tone flat.

Marcone just wiggled his eyebrows at her.

From her pocket, a muffled ringing sound broke the easy banter between newly connected friends. She jammed a hand down her jeans and yanked out the ‘Caster, scrambling to answer the call. “Hello?”

“Lalonde,” came Calem’s voice. For most calls, it was easier to disable the holographic imaging, as he had here. 

“I just saw you yesterday. What’s up?”

“So? And? Therefore?” She could  _ hear _ the eyeroll in his voice. “I want to battle you before you get into Courmarine gym.”

“...Didn’t we  _ just _ have a battle a few days ago? I wiped the floor with you.” She blinked. “And  _ how _ did you get ahead of me to get here first? I even caught a ride on a Skiddo!”

“Longer legs, Lalonde, longer legs.” Oh the asshole was  _ smug _ now, was he?

“Just means I’m closer to punching soft spots on you, Remont,” she growled back. 

“Ah-huh,” he replied. “Are we gonna battle or not?”

She rolled her eyes and started walking down Courmarine pier, visibly thinking it over, forcing Calem to wait for her answer. 

“Or are you too nervous to fight me again?”

“Please, Remont, there isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not ready to battle you.  _ Fine. _ But give it a couple days. I want my team to get acquainted with the newest member.”

He made an assenting noise. “Fair enough. Done. I’ll see you later, Lalonde. Don’t wimp out on me.”

“Now when have I ever done that?” she mused, just before he hung up. 

Courmarine city was split up into two parts between Azure bay and the cliffs that led into the Kalos Badlands. The bay area was centered on its attractions to tourists and vacationers, with boats to rent, restaurants, and a hotel similar in design to the one she had stayed at in Camphrier. Fishy salt air blew gently into her face and she sighed, appreciating her new hat on the extremely sunny day.

Even if it did make her look a little silly.

What connected the two parts of the city was a monorail that gave a scenic view of the surrounding countryside to anyone who rode it. 

Brienne briefly considered renting a room at the hotel and travelling to the Pokemon Center the next morning, because she was a lazy sod at heart, and had great relationships with any bed she met. Her muscles were all for this idea. However, she was  _ also _ a cheapskate, and if she could save money she would, because who knew when she’d next get more. Pokemon Centers were free to stay at and had super-cheap food. Lots of it.

...Pokemon Center it was.

She sighed, rolled her shoulders. Marcone patted her consolingly on her back, seemingly able to read her mind. She pouted at him. “You were right.”

**_“ <Oh?>”_ **

“Skiddo rides are horrible. Never again. I promise to walk everywhere from now on.” 

**_“ <Good to know.>”_ ** He sounded much too smug. 

She grumbled under her breath about smug males and trudged her way to the monorail station.

And froze, three steps in the doorway, when her brain finally registered Professor Sycamore and Diantha Carnet talking quietly. 

“...What.”

Her dull surprise caught their attention. “Brienne! What wonderful luck, I heard you passed the Successor test in Shalour. Congratulations!” Sycamore beamed at her, striding forward to clasp her forearms. His gaze was warm, affectionate. It made the surprise tenseness between her shoulders ease a little bit. 

“Oh, thanks,” she mumbled. She was a little irritated with him, but not enough to really remark about it right off the bat. And he was  _ proud _ of her, which was… It gave her unexpected butterflies.

“Come, come, let me introduce you to a dear friend of mine, Diantha. She’s quite the famous actress…” Sycamore hustled the two of them forward into the station, hand between her shoulders as he beamed. 

Brienne’s lips twitched upwards. “We’ve met.”

Diantha’s head tilted to the side. “Oh, yes! In Lumiose! You had those wonderful Ralts twins. Are they still in your roster? I would love to see them again.”

“They’re Kirlia now,” Brienne said softly, proudly, and released the twins.

They promptly went into fan-mode and snuggled up to Diantha. “How fantastic! They’ve grown so very nicely. You must have a strong bond with the both of them.” She cooed and set to petting them on the head, between the horns. 

“What about the rest of your team?” Sycamore asked. “Your Fennekin, and Bulbasaur?”

“Braixen and Ivysaur, respectively. I caught an Inkay, and Marcone,” she motioned to the Lucario next to her. “Decided to join me.”

Sycamore’s eyebrows rose in shock. “That is quite the bond you have with your team. And do I see a psychic specialist in training?”

“It just  _ happened, _ okay?” she huffed. Not only had  _ Shauna _ teased her about it, but Sycamore? It made no sense that her ears were already turning pink. None at all. 

“I wonder if the bond you have with your Pokemon is strong enough for Mega-Evolution,” Sycamore mused. 

**_“ <It already is,>”_ ** Marcone replied, shoulders back and proud.  **_“ <She has already proven herself more than worthy of the gift, and the bond she has with the others is so much stronger than the one she has with me.>”_ **

Welp, now it was the rest of her face that was red, too. 

“I stand corrected.” Sycamore nodded. “How curious it is that the phenomenon for mega-evolution has only appeared in Kalos. There is so much we don’t know. I appreciate you helping me to research it.”

“I appreciate being  _ told _ when I’m being asked to research a thing,” she replied dryly. It was okay to be a little irritated at him since  _ he _ brought it up. She would have been  _ fine _ doing the legwork if she’d been told, but nooooo...

Sycamore simply chuckled sheepishly. “I’m glad I was able to catch you. You are focusing on Courmarine gym next, yes? I wish you luck! With your Braixen--”

“ _ Dresden, _ ” Brienne corrected.

“With Dresden, the gym should give you no problem.  _ Adieu! _ ”

Brienne did not a think such a self-assured, confident man would  _ scurry _ away, but Sycamore did. She must have looked more annoyed than she was. Whoops.

Diantha giggled, and stood from where she had crouched to pet Kanaya and Dirk. The twins looked a little blissed out. The woman must radiate warm and fuzzy feelings. 

“...Bonds are important to us, are they not?” Diantha asked.

Brienne nodded, even as she gathered the twins into a hug. 

“With our Pokemon, with our families, our friends. Even as an actress, I try to form a sort of bond with the character I play. The more I find in common with her, the better I act. My friends keep me grounded, and with the bonds I have with them keep my head from floating away into the clouds. What of your bonds, with your friends and family?”

That...was something she wasn’t sure how to answer. Everything was still too raw.

Before she could answer, Diantha waved away the question like a thin fog. “Oh, never mind me! I’m just babbling about my own things. Let’s have a battle the next time we meet! I’m still looking forward to it!” She beamed, gave Brienne a brief hug, and dashed out of the station, heels clicking away into the distance. 

“Um?” Just what was that? Did anyone have an answer?

Marcone simply patted her on the back, the twins still two barely cohesive piles of blissed out mush.

~*~

“Are those Wingull? I didn’t know they were native to Kalos,” Brienne mused as she walked onto the station platform. 

“Not really,” her companion on the platform said. Average height, blue t-shirt and jeans, messenger bag on his shoulder. Shaggy blonde hair hid brown eyes. “But enough have been brought over from Hoenn that they’ve made their own home.” In his hand was a large bag of fries, with which he was feeding the small crowd of seabirds, piecemeal. Every time the flock got too close, he’d shoo them off a little, and then keep feeding them. 

The train to the other half of the city pulled up, and ten or fifteen people piled on. Brienne made to follow, before she was stopped with a hand on her arm.

“By the way, I’d wait for the next train,” the man said. By now, a large enough flock of Wingull had gathered, that if these were sea gulls back home, Brienne would be running for life and limb. 

Brienne froze and stared. “...Why?”

“Because this,” he said, and tossed the still mostly full bag of fries onto the train.

The giant flock of Wingull followed.

The train doors closed.

“Fuck,” Brienne spat, staring. That was one hell of a bullet dodged. She could already see feathers flying in the back windows of the train. 

“That’s my bit of chaos caused for the day,” Fry-man said, and sent her a sloppy salute. “Have a good afternoon.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, whistling.

“...I’m almost tempted to climb down the cliffs.” Brienne sighed, and sat down to wait for the next train.

~*~

The train--thankfully Wingull free, but not  _ feather _ free, they were everywhere--was a three minute slow crawl from the upper part of Courmarine to the lower part. Sea-salt air was replaced with the dry scent of winds off the nearby badlands, air going from mildly humid to dry. The environment went from sauna to dry-roast in seconds flat and Brienne was  _ glad _ to vanish into Courmarine Center, right next door to the train station. 

Screw exploring the city. It was  _ hot _ outside. The train was  _ not _ air conditioned.

Entering the center, Brienne took a moment to grab a disposable cup, fill it with ice water from the nearest fountain, and walk back out the front door with it. This done, she removed her hat, and dumped the cup of water on her head. Her hair turned a slightly darker shade of blonde as it became instantly soaked and she shivered as water dripped down the back of her shirt. She grinned and walked back inside, finally comfortable. 

Sandwiches were free to grab at the cafeteria, and she sat down with one in front of her, slouching.

“...Why are you  _ wet _ , Lalonde?” Calem asked dryly, arms crossed as he approached. 

“It’s hot outside. I wanted to cool off,” she said, distinctly whiny. “I’m comfortable.”

“The center is air conditioned.”

“Don’ care,” she mumbled. “It’s hot.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t come crying to me when you catch a cold.”

Brienne froze in place, sandwich forgotten as her brain brought up an idea she hadn’t considered until now.  _ Vaccinations. _ The blood drained from her face and she scrambled for her ‘caster. 

Calem squawked as she pushed the chair away in her panic. “What’s wrong?”

“I, uh, gotta make a call. Grace’ll kill me if I forget again.”

Understanding bloomed over Calem’s face. 

“Right, seeyoulaterCalembye!” she blurted out in a hurry and dashed off to the most private corner she could find. Which happened to be on the complete  _ opposite _ end of the Center. Her hurried rush to nowhere accidentally gained multiple pairs of eyes on her back until she turned a corner out of sight. 

Beige walls stared back at her as her fingers punched in the numbers for Grace’s home phone. It rang once, twice, three times. Brienne started to dread that Grace wasn’t home.

It picked up on the fourth ring.

_ “Hello?” _

“I have a very important question to ask and I wish I’d thought of it before I left Vaniville.”

_ “Brienne? Are you okay? You sound really worried. Is something wrong?” _

“Maybe?” she squeaked. “D’you think I need to get a giant round of vaccinations? Y’know, being where I’m from…”

_ “Oh. That is a very good question.” _ Grace sighed into the phone, prompting a brief burst of static from the speaker.  _ “Not right now, I would guess? Do you know about herd immunity?” _

“Mmhmm,” Brienne nodded. “Because everyone else is immune, there’s nothing for the disease to propagate on. Therefore it kills the spread and protects those who  _ can’t _ get vaccinated.”

_ “I would guess that not too many things are different here than where you’re from. Does measles, mumps, torchic pox ring a bell?” _

“Everything but the torchic pox, but I think we might have something similar. Okay.” She slowly relaxed, the tension oozing out her shoulders. “I just...Calem brought up catching a cold, and it hit me all at once.”

_ “It’s a valid worry to have. Look, once you’ve been here a bit longer, we can go to a doctor and say that you were allergic to some vaccinations in the past, but you were hoping that the formulas have changed in recent years, get your shots then. You’ll be okay.” _

“Thanks.”

_ “So where are you? How are you doing?”  _ Grace’s voice jumped up in excitement, worries immediately put to the side.  _ “How many badges do you have?”  _ Or more like blasted through.

“Three badges, six Pokemon. A Lucario decided to join my group.”

_ “A LUCARIO? Just out of the blue?” _

“Uhm, well, no...I’d run into him and his previous trainer--who was Korrina, by the way--back on route six and again just outside Geosenge. Seems he likes me. A lot.” Her shrug was backed up by the verbal version in her voice. “I’ve yet to figure out the limits of what he can do. Looking forward to it, though.”

_ “Oh that sounds wonderful!” _ Grace squealed in glee.  _ “I’m looking forward to meeting them all in Lumiose! Make sure to get there before the first, okay?” _

“Will do Grace.”

_ “Also, be careful when crossing the badlands, it’s full of ground types that like to use sand-trap. Keep Saturn out at all times to discourage them. Remember to pack a lot of water and only travel early in the morning and late at night. It gets really hot out there, and there is no shade to speak of. Too many trainers have been rescued from there. Mostly because of dehydration and heat-stroke.” _

“Okay Grace, I will.”

_ “Now that’s out of the way...how have you been doing, Brienne? I’m glad you called. I’ve been a little worried for you since Geosenge. You’ve been doing so  _ good _ on your own, but you  _ can _ ask for help when you need it.” _ Her voice was deeply sincere, Brienne could nearly physically feel it over the line. 

She shuffled in place, again unsure of what to say. Her throat worked for a moment, brain scrambling for words.

“I’m...okay. There were a few stumbling blocks between Geosenge and Shalour, but I got through them okay. I had a lot of battles in Shalour. Calem’s getting to be a really hard opponent, he had me on the ropes a couple times. Dirk is ridiculously fast, and Dresden is pulling all sorts of tricks out of his sleeve. I got into Courmarine about an hour ago, so…”

_ “That’s a grass gym. You should take it out easily with Dresden.” _

“Yeah, I know. But I was thinking I would have Saturn do most of the work in that gym.”

_ “Really? Why? That’s making it ten times harder on you and your team.” _

“Yeah, but Saturn deserves the achievement. What better way to say I’m ready for what’s coming ahead of me than to take out a grass-type gym with a grass-type? It’s not like Saturn’s at a complete disadvantage. He’s also part  _ poison _ type, so he’ll be able to use that. I just need to teach him something that isn’t a spore move.”

_ “Bold. Very bold. Are you sure about that?” _

“Yeah. All I need to do really, is not lose.”

_ “Give me a call after your gym battle. I wanna know how it went. I’ll let you go now, okay?” _

“Yeah Grace. Take care,” she hummed.

_ “You too! I mean it, or I will hunt you down.” _

“Yes Ma’am.”

The line went dead, Grace disconnected.

Brienne pocketed the ‘caster and rubbed at her face. Her hair, still damp, brushed cold stripes across her cheek and brow, and she tugged them away, only for them to fall back a few seconds later. This consistent uncertainty sat heavy in her stomach, a meal that refused to be properly digested. She growled to herself, fisted her hands and tensed her arms, fighting with herself that  _ this wasn’t her _ . She was better than all this hesitation and fear and uncertainty. 

She could  _ do better. _

This weird world that had started to put its hooks into her and said ‘who are you’ and ‘show us what you’re made of.’ She  _ hated _ that she couldn’t answer those questions. 

_ Who are you? _

_ What do you want? _

_ Where are you going? _

She could answer not a  _ one _ of those, and core of her snarled in rage at that fact. She hated being led by the nose, going through life hoping an answer would appear to her. She hated it and it made her so angry she wanted to roar. 

The first few steps back to the cafeteria were stomped, each downward motion sending stinging pain back up her foot against the surprisingly solid floor. 

For now, she relished in the feeling. It anchored her. It gave her something to focus all that rage on, and numbed the pain. 

Bring on the world, with its armies and challenges. She’d take them  _ all _ on.


	21. You're Goin' Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coumarine City Gym Battle! Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!

“You ready, Lalonde? I gave you a day extra, so you better be on the top of your game.” Calem stood facing her, an arena’s worth of space between them. The grass they stood on was the biggest open area they could find in Courmarine city that wasn’t the gym itself or smack in the middle of a tourist attraction.

Unfortunately, that meant they were edging up on private property and the very borders of the city itself. Hopefully no one would be too pissed off about a battle on their front lawn. Brienne shot the three yards an apology, and was already crafting another one in case things got rowdy.

“A day is all I needed, Remont!” she shouted back. “Same rules as last time?”

“Sure,” he nodded. “What’s with the hat?”

Her bottom lip came out to exaggerated proportions as both hands grabbed her hat and yanked it further down on her head. “What’s wrong with my hat?” she asked, mock hurt.

“Nothing!” Calem didn’t get the ‘mock’ part. “It’s a great hat! Very purple, and floppy.”

She snickered, and waved him off. “It’s fine. I know it’s awkward looking. Keeps the sun off my face and shoulders. Otherwise I’m going to burn.”

He grumbled and sent out his first Pokemon in response, forcing her to scramble in a hurry. 

“Absol, go!”

_ Easy enough… _ “Marcone, go!”

Calem visibly winced, face crumpling as he did the mental math that was Dark-type versus Fighting-type.  _ Most _ of her team had some time of advantage defending against Dark-types or actively fighting them. The only one who didn’t was Dresden, and she wasn’t going to make that mistake again.    
...Well, at least until he learned to hit  _ really hard _ with that staff of his. 

Absol made the first move, using the same speed she’d seen in the Tower of Mastery to hit the opposing Lucario with a Quick Attack. The attack hit with a glancing blow, Marcone already moving for his own dodge-and-attack vectors. He threw himself forward in a somersault and when he came to his feet, an Aura Sphere flew off his palm and landed a telling hit, knocking the disaster Pokemon off its feet. 

Calem grit his teeth and clenched his fists. “Slash pattern alpha!”

Absol barked its understanding and leapt to its feet, tearing the grass under it to shreds. 

Brienne mentally winced. Welp, there was the property damage she was afraid of. 

The Absol’s horn glowed a bright white and is dashed in a suicidal run towards Marcone. Marcone for the most part, stood his ground, only to be surprised when white-furred back legs bunched up and launched the Absol up and over his head. He spun, only to get three slashes in quick succession from the scythe-like horn to his face and arms. 

The Lucario grunted in pain, and pushed the Absol away again with another Aura Sphere blast. He set his stance as Absol bounce-rolled away, and his paws began to glow with silvery light. Just as the Absol gained its feet, looking worse for wear, it was peppered with bullet like shots of Flash Cannon, which knocked it right over again. 

A hiss from the other side of the field, and Calem withdrew Absol. “Your win on that one,” he said flatly, quickly exchanging one pokeball for another. 

“Good job, Marcone. Better battle for you next time.”

He nodded and gave Brienne a smile that was all in the eyes.  **_“ <May I stay out and watch?>”_ **

“Certainly. Stand next to me, please.”

Brienne tossed her next pokeball first, as winner of the first round. “Kanaya, let’s do this!”

“Meowstic!”

_ Er. _

Both Pokemon were resistant to their own type, and Kanaya didn’t know any fairy type moves as of yet. This battle would come down to training and whoever could hit with an off-type attack harder. 

Brienne wrinkled her nose and nodded. 

“Rev up your chainsaw, Kanaya!”

Brienne and Marcone watched Calem and his Meowstic both choke at the word ‘chainsaw.’

“What the--?” Calem spat, as multiple Magical Leaves came at Kanaya’s call, forming into a crude chainsaw that looped around her outstretched hands and then out again like a trombone’s arm, spinning in-track furiously. 

“Get’em, girl!” There was something like a  _ smirk _ on the Kirlia’s face as she charged the Meowstic, for a moment embodying all the fear that could come from a monster straight out of hell. Or Texas. It was a coin flip, really. 

Calem squawked. “Disarming voice, now!”

Kanaya took the Fairy-typed attack point-blank, spun to the side and reformed the chainsaw, giving the psychic cat a  _ bad _ series of grass cuts all down its side. Both Pokemon broke away to reassess their opponent. 

Brienne knew that Meowstic had Fake-Out, but it was an attack that required point blank range, which would be hard to get with Kanaya’s chainsaw. Disarming voice disrupted the leaf-construction, but Kanaya could reform it fast enough it shouldn’t matter too much. 

“Kanaya, keep out of the soundwaves!”

Her Kirlia sent her a look that screamed ‘no duh!’ and shot back in to close with her opponent. Meowstic shouted, clipping Kanaya on the foot as she leapt, and fumbled her roll, landing  _ on _ the cat instead of on her other side. 

Brienne winced as the two devolved into a cat fight of swiping claws, shining leaves, and  _ slapping. _

The two trainers’ eyes met over the battlefield and they both nodded. Red light flashed out and returned both Pokemon mid-battle. 

“We’ll...just call that one a draw?” Calem asked, sheepish. 

“Yeaaaaap,” Brienne drawled, glaring briefly at Marcone, who wasn’t trying very hard to hide his snickering. 

“Last Pokemon. At the same time?” Calem said, pokeball already in his hand. 

“Sure.”

_ Hm. He’s still only got three for his team. I KNOW that’s his Frogadier. Dirk would just be overkill. Saturn would be abusing the type-weakness again and I know that’s not fair to Calem. Dresden would end badly for me...That only leaves… _

“Gl’bgolyb, go!”

The little floating cuttlefish appeared, facing the bright blue frog, and tilted her head to the side. Seeing as most of her body was head, she floated at a forty-five degree angle to everything else. 

“Quick attack!” The blue frog bounded off and slammed into the cuttlefish, causing her float pattern to go briefly erratic. 

Glubby recovered, lights on her headcap flashing in a pattern Brienne was learning meant ‘aggressive.’ 

“Swagger!”

She  _ immediately _ gave the impression of looking down her beak at her opponent, scoffing and showing her backside. Frogadier croaked with rage, hopping up and down on the spot, and as he did he went cross-eyed. 

_ Ding! Confused. _

“Water pulse!”

“Foul play!”

Water pulse went shooting into the air above Frogadier’s head and came back down on him, doing a little damage. Glubby came in and slammed into the frog right after, sending it rolling across the field. 

Frogadier attempted to stand back up, but only succeeded in slamming its head against the ground, knocking it out. Brienne winced in sympathy. 

Calem returned his starter, glaring at the ground. “Good match,” he bit out, and turned on his heel. 

“Remont? Calem? What’s wrong?” Her question came across deaf ears as Calem used his long legs to quickly make tracks to the Pokemon Center. Brienne stared after him, lost.

Glubby gleefully plopped herself back on her trainer’s head, happy with her win. 

“What did I do?”

**_“ <Win, I think,>”_ ** Marcone said, and sighed.  **_“ <Give him a bit. He just needs to cool off. I’ve seen it before. Even Korrina’s had her issues.>”_ **

“Alright. I’ll wait.”

“Are you  _ done _ with your match?” Brienne startled, as a woman’s voice more-or-less demanded from off to the side. A mother, with two children at her legs, stood at her front door, arms folded and angry. “Would you  _ kindly _ fix my lawn now?”

“Er…”

~*~

Brienne’s back ached, and there was soil under her fingernails. The grassy yard she faced, while not pristine, was well on its way to being perfect once again once she and Saturn had been at it for an hour or so. The mother who she and Calem had wronged by tearing up her front lawn nodded, gave her a soft smile, and went back inside. 

“Yeah, I kinda deserved that…” she sighed, and glanced at the sky. 

The sun was well past its high point, sinking towards setting in the west. It was already a little bit cooler, a breeze evaporating the sweat on her forehead. Between the battle she’d had with Calem, and the time and effort it took to repair the small landscape, she considered her choices. 

“Think we should go battle the gym now, or wait until tomorrow?”

Saturn eyed her. “Saaaur.” 

“I’ll take that as a ‘no.’ C’mon then, back to the Center,” she motioned, and walked slowly enough that Saturn could keep at her feet. From the way her arms and nose felt, she had a mild sunburn, even with the wide-brimmed hat on her head.  _ Did she have lotion in her pack? Might have to buy it. _

She only got a glance at Calem again when the sliding glass doors of the Pokemon Center moved to admit her entrance. He spotted her, pursed his lips, and left the main hall as fast as his legs could take him and still call it ‘walking.’

“Okaaaaaay…” Her head tilted to the side. “Jealousy does not become him well.”

“Ivysaur saur, iv-saur.” Saturn grumbled at her feet, and walked on towards where the cafeteria was. He seemed intent on shoving food into her, one way or another. 

She sighed, and shrugged it off. “What do you think of putting Venoshock in your move pool, or do you want Toxic instead?”

“Saur,” Saturn said firmly.

“Venoshock it is.” By the fact that Saturn put up no complaints, she figured she guessed right.

This cafeteria had a large indoor garden situated under a glass roof, plants kept well manicured by the acolytes of the local grass gym. The bronze plaque at the front of it dedicated it to both Xerneas and Yveltal, as a visual example of balance, Brienne read. 

When she stood back up from kneeling on the floor, she was nearly trampled over by a form much larger than her, who  _ did _ fall over. 

“I’m so sorry, are you okay? Did I hurt you?” she exclaimed, already reaching down to help the stranger up. 

He had long, dark blue hair tied at the base of his neck in a ponytail, a fringe of bangs that nearly fell into his eyes, and wore long sleeves and pants, regardless of the fact that it was mid-summer and still fairly hot outside. His face was kind, however, and he had laugh lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said in a Brooklyn accent so thick she almost couldn’t make out the words. He stood, well taller than her at what had to be about six feet, and brushed himself off. “Sorry for runnin’ into ya’, I don’t always look where I’m goin’.” 

“It’s usually me tripping over my feet, so I know the feeling,” she grinned sheepishly. “I’m Bri. You?”

“Call me Donny. Are ya doin’ anything tonight?”

The abrupt question made her blush and squeak at the same time. “If you’re trying for pick-up lines, I think  _ I’m _ the one who’s supposed to fall over.”

Donny laughed, an action that emphasized all the laugh lines she hadn’t seen before, and yet it made him look years younger than he probably was. “That could be true! But I’m not askin’ ya on a date. Just as a friend. There’s a karaoke competition at the bar tonight, and you look like someone who could use a bit o’ fun.”

“Odd way to ask someone you just met,” she replied, thinking it over.

“I’m odd myself, so it makes sense,” he harrumphed and folded his arms. 

“Alright, I’ll come.”

Donny  _ beamed _ , and briefly grabbed her shoulders as if he was going to hug her, before he remembered himself and stepped back. “Dat’s great! Meet me at the bar at nine!” 

He dashed off, out of the Center, and Brienne watched him go, pleased despite herself. 

She glanced down at Saturn again. “Well, that just happened. Thoughts?”

Saturn beamed at her too.

“Okay then. I’m going to a bar tonight.” She paused. “I don’t have anything to  _ wear, _ ” she moaned in horror.

~*~

The sun had set a couple hours ago, she had had a panicked shopping spree in Courmarine’s boutiques, and now she had just let the bar door click closed behind her, all gussied up for a karaoke competition. If she was actually  _ competing _ was still up in the air. 

She spotted Donny about a second before he spotted her, sat on a tall barstool next to an even  _ taller _ table for two, glass of water sweating condensation onto a napkin. 

“Bri! Ya…” His eyes promptly informed him what she was wearing, and his voice died in his throat for a brief moment. “Made it. Ya look dazzlin’.”

One eyebrow arched toward her hairline. “So I can tell. You look dazzled.” He had reason for it, she admitted to herself. She wore a scarlet red halter top that barely covered her back at  _ all, _ and a black, shimmery skort that was more one full panel of fabric in the back that went to her knees, and shorts that would nearly get herself sent to the principal’s office in any high school for a dress code violation. Her shoes had the smallest heels she could find and still walk in, sparkly and open-toed, straps going up her calves. Bra? What bra? There was no way to hide it.

Donny had dressed in a black collared button down with glitter on the edges, and dark slacks. 

He grinned. “The contest starts in a few minutes. Want in?”

She snorted, and climb-hopped onto the stool opposite him. “How do you even know if I sing?”

“Well, either ya sing, or you can judge those who  _ are _ , or ya can go up dere for a lark. I don’t mind no matter what ya do. As long as ya have fun!” He smiled again. 

She eyed him for a minute as she made up her mind. Would she really have come if she hadn’t  _ wanted _ to compete? Would she have dressed up as she had?

“Okay. I’ll bite.”

He beamed again, and it was almost as if his whole face could light the darkened bar. “The sign-up’s over dere, on da computer, ya put in yer name and da song.”

“Cool beans. I’ll be right back.”

She slipped through growing crowds of people and made her way to the kiosk, and flagged down the bartender to order a water and cider, pointing out her table. Signing up was easy, she got a glimpse of who she would be up against, and then she was back at the table. Her drinks came a minute later. 

“So, what’cha singin’?” Donny asked.

“Not telling. It’s a surprise.”

“Awww,” he pouted. 

“You’ll live. You singing?”

“Nah, not tonight. I’m just watchin’. Ain’t got my partner with me.”

“You sing duet? Cool.”

“Yeah. She’s good, too.”

Brienne took a sip of her cider. “So, why’d you ask me out after talking to me for thirty seconds?”

He squawked. “ _ What? _ A guy can’t ask a pretty lady out to have a little fun?”

She blushed lightly at ‘pretty.’ “Not after only thirty seconds. It’s unusual in my book.”

He huffed, and made an aborted attempt to fold his arms again. “Yer book needs updatin’. And anyway, I wanted a drink, but it’s bad luck drinkin’ alone, so I told myself I’d ask the next person I met. An’ I met you.”

“Ahkay. I see.”

A waiter came by and deposited a bright blue drink in front of Donny. 

“What’s that?”

“A screwdriver. Oran juice and vodka.”

“Wow,” Brienne blinked and smiled. “To not drinking alone.” She toasted, cider glass up in the air between them.

“Cheers.” Donny clinked glasses. 

~*~

Her cider gone and her name called up on stage, Brienne hopped off the barstool. She heard “Good luck!” behind her from Donny, and grinned. The alcohol was just now hitting her system, made her feel bolder, saucier, and she put that into the swing of her hips. All eyes were on her tonight, and  _ nobody _ was gonna forget her. 

She had to admit, she  _ missed _ being up on stage, performing to an audience, the rush of nerves singing through her system that matched the beat of the music, the  _ presence _ that settled over her shoulders.  _ This _ was her world, and for tonight, just for the night, she would reclaim it as its queen. 

The MC introduced her. “The lady of love and broken hearts, Brienne Lalonde!”

She gave the crowd a little wave as they applauded, lights beating down on her head and shoulders like a warm cape, and then turned around, waiting for the music to start. 

The music started up and another cheer burst from the crowd as the song was immediately recognized, guitars and drums making for a catchy beat. Her foot tapped on the stage floor to the beat. She spun around, provocative, as soon as the words started. 

_ “Well you’re a real tough cookie with a long history, _ __   
_ With breakin’ little hearts like the one in me. _ __   
_ That’s okay, let’s see how you do it, _ _   
_ __ Put up your dukes, let’s get down to it!”

She sang, ‘acting’ the song as she went, voice dropped into a mezzo soprano as she almost growled the song in challenge. There was a stool up on the stage for those who wanted to play an instrument as they sang, and she used it as her prop. She let sexiness  _ ooze _ from every note she sang, and caught people’s eyes every few verses as if she was singing to them.

_ “But that’s okay, see if I care! _ __   
_ Knock me down it’s all in vain, _ _   
_ __ I get right back on my feet again!”

She  _ stalked _ toward the edge of the stage, defiance in every step, and scoffed that anyone could beat  _ this. _

_ “Well you’re a real tough cookie with a long history, _ __   
_ For breakin’ little hearts like the one in me. _ __   
_ Before I put another notch in my lipstick case, _ _   
_ __ You better make sure you put me in my place!”

She bared her teeth at this point, at ‘war’ with the other person in this song, challenging them.

_ “Hit me with your best shot! _ __   
_ C’mon, hit me with your best shot. _ __   
_ Hit me with your best shot, _ _   
_ __ Fire away!

_ Hit me with your best shot! _ __   
_ Why don’t ya hit me with your best shot? _ __   
_ Hit me with your best shot! _ _   
_ __ Fire away!”

As she held the final notes, she let her upper body lean backwards, hand on the stool for balance, and kept leaning, one leg rising into the air, toe pointed, as she hit the crescendo. 

The note ended, and she slammed it back down and came upright, face alight with sheer confidence and pride. 

The audience was on their feet, clapping and cheering and she caught a few whistles as well. She bowed, once, twice, and walked off the stage, just as sexy as she had walking on. 

She flopped back down at the table she shared with Donny, chest heaving as she caught her breath and a little sweaty. “Well?”

He grinned at her. “Just as good as my partner.”

Brienne snorted. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He didn’t reply to that. “And you’ve probably beaten every other participant in here.”

A confident smile grew on her face. “Uh,  _ duh. _ ”

~*~

The prize for winning turned out to be a polaroid of you on the hall of fame wall by the front door. It was filled with faces, including a very young Diantha from years ago. Brienne’s face joined the crowd of people to be immortalized in the Courmarine bar.

Donny escorted her back to the Pokemon Center, her second cider having gone directly to her head. Her steps wobbled and she threatened to break her ankle. 

“Ya gonna be okay gettin’ back to yer room?” he asked, concerned. 

“I’ll be fine the second I can get these shoes off,” she huffed, then grinned as her very buzzed brain came up with something. “Why, wanna join me there?”

Donny blushed and sputtered. 

“I had a great night,” she said to fill the silence as Donny struggled to find his composure. Sadly, she had no intention of letting him any time soon. “Sleep well, Donny.” It only took a little bit of stretch-wobbling to kiss him on the cheek and then dash away into the larger, well-lit building.

~*~

Her eyes scrunched against the pain in her head. It felt like both her brain  _ and _ her skull was swollen, and the liquid between them was sloshing around trying to be a bad day at sea. She moaned and turned over slowly, face rotating to press into the pillow. 

Oh all the gods and their angels,  _ why _ did she have a hangover? It was only two drinks! She fought to control the nausea that was an acidic, uneasy stomach. 

Everything was objectively awful and if there was anything good in the world a giant wolf would come out of nowhere to swallow the sun and put her out of her misery.  

With the sunlight still there five minutes later, her headache no better, she decided all the good in the world was somewhere else at the moment, and stumbled out of bed. Even the quiet ‘pat-pat-pat’ her bare feet made against the flat carpet hurt, or maybe it was the fact that her balance was all out of whack, tilting the earth sideways. The bathroom was tile  _ everywhere _ and oh that just made sound worse, something please kill her now. 

Drink water. Get shower. Get food,  _ coffee. _ Focus.

“Mother _ fuck! _ ” The water from the showerhead screamed like rain in a hurricane downpour.

Today was not starting well.

~*~

Brienne sat outside in the shade, coffee in hand, and watched Saturn Venoshock rock targets behind the Pokemon Center. The attack consisted of a sticky, sap-like poison substance oozing out of the base of Saturn’s plant. When enough gathered in small cup-shaped leaves, Saturn twisted and threw the poison at the opponent. Whatever muscles the sauropod was using, they were strong, because the liquid went flying at surprising speeds. At this point, she had him working at accuracy while in motion. 

The faint hissing sound she could hear from the ooze-covered rocks told her to stay  _ far away _ from them. 

“Okay, Saturn, that’s good enough for now!”

He shook himself like a dog, small droplets of poison flinging off his plant, and bounced over to her, excited. “Saur, saur saur ivysaur!”

“So you sound like you’re ready to take on some other grass types,” she teased.

Saturn rolled his eyes and extended one vine, tapping her on the forehead. “ _ Saur. _ ”

“Yeah, I still feel like crap. No, it won’t affect me in the gym.”

He stared hard at her.

“...Much.”

He huffed, ruffled his leaves, and soon a soft pink cloud puffed up from his plant and wafted towards her. The scent that hit her was a mix of plumeria and roses, with a hint of lavender, just enough to make the thrash band stop pounding away behind her eyeballs. 

“Oh, Saturn, what did I do to deserve you?” she murmured, folding over her lap to scratch her grass-type behind the ears. 

He scoffed and turned his nub of a nose up in the air, mouth open in a grin. 

“Oh, is it the other way around? You want  _ me? _ Well I’m flattered then. And claimed, it seems.” This got a giggle out of the Ivysaur, a rock back-and-forth on his feet that was the cutest thing to watch. 

“Now let’s go see a man about a badge, hmm?”

“Saur!”

~*~

_ All able-bodied Trainers must make their way to the top of the Coumarine Gym via the rope system. For those who are disabled, or are trying a repeat challenge, the elevator is down the hall on the left. _

Well, at least it wasn’t roller skates.

Brienne eyed the knotted rope that dangled from a point fifteen feet up a wall--what looked to be the start of an overgrown treehouse--and silently ate her words. 

“What the fuck is this? Middle-school gym all over again?” She grumbled as she took the rough, hemp-like material in her hands. There was a knot in the rope about every foot, so it wasn’t as if it would be  _ impossible _ to climb, just difficult. And it didn’t look like there was a rule against using the wall as a place she could put her feet, so it would just be a matter of pulling herself up. 

Fifteen feet.  _ Multiple times. _

She could do this. She’d already walked half a region to get here. Even if the skating rink was starting to sound very appealing at this point. 

She made her way to the first ‘floor’ of the rope system, and took the right-hand curve. There was another rope, swinging gently from the ceiling of the next floor, over an open gap. When she reached the end of the walkway, she could see a rope net that stretched to the other end. At least this gym was  _ somewhat _ complying with OSHA.

“Oh fuck me,” she muttered, before going back for a running start. She’d even try one of those skate jumps, at this point!

~*~

Knees and elbows bruised and scraped, arms shaky from the exertion, Brienne finally made it to the top of the ‘treehouse,’ cursing out under her breath whatever higher being had written out this destiny for her. One, she had a  _ hangover, _ two she’d been made to climb a tree that was probably taller than the ancient redwoods back home, and now she had a gym battle where she needed all of her wits about her.  _ Fuck this shit. _

Fortunately it was a simple hallway that led to the arena, and she took the time to shake out wobbly limbs and cramped hands. Her palms were rubbed red with the lack of gloves, stinging all over. She’d have some interesting blisters later. Some of her hair was plastered to her forehead, damp with sweat, and she ran her hands through it once to dislodge the stickiness--turning it into a bird’s nest in the process. 

She could do this. Her  _ team _ could do this, even with last minute training on Saturn’s part. He was part poison. Dresden was fire and all the advantage that contained. Marcone had steel for  _ bones _ and scoffed at leaves. There was no way she wasn’t getting this badge. Saturn taking part was added challenge on  _ her _ end. Where was this doubt coming from?

_ Let’s roll. _

The door to the arena opened with a gentle push, wrought iron bars reminiscent of a garden gate. She even spotted live vines growing along the edges, lovingly tended. No creak, however, the hinges had been oiled. The arena itself was open to the sky and sunlight, though the Leader’s box had a background of an office and library. Homey, if a little formal. 

Brienne made her way to the challenger’s box and stood as firmly as she could manage with a hangover, shoulders back. The rock band full of porcupines was still going in her skull, and it wasn’t about to get better any time soon. The floor was solid, packed dirt, in contrast to the last three she had been in. Grass type moves would work well here. 

The leader, an old man with a stooped back and the  _ largest _ pair of shears she’d ever seen stepped into his box and waited patiently. It was always the challenger that opened...hostilities.

“I am Brienne Lalonde, here to challenge Coumarine Gym for a badge!”

“Ho!” He replied, chuckling. “So that’s the name of the young lady who could be heard cussin’ up a storm all the way through the garden playground! Those were mighty words yeh were usin’.”

She snorted and rubbed her head. “I wasn’t exactly expecting a rope-climb challenge here.”

“So I could tell. That was only a glimpse of the strength I’ll be showin’ yah. Yeh sure yah up for the challenge?” His gaze may have been old, but it was still piercing for the age. 

She shivered and glared back. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t!”

“Good,” he nodded. 

The referee stepped forward from a hidden spot at the side. “Battle is three-on-three, challenger is allowed substitutions. Begin!”

“Saturn, go!”

“Jumpluff, go!”

Brienne frowned slightly as she considered the first move. Definitely a grass type, as advertised, but that partial flying type would make things difficult. Saturn still had  _ that _ weakness, as well as to psychic and fire and a couple other things, but poison gave him an advantage she had to use. The question was how was she gonna hit that flying type?

“Oh- _ ho! _ ” Ramos exclaimed. “That’s one healthy lookin’ Ivysaur there. He your first?”

She smiled. “My fourth.”

“Oh, my, my, impressive. Grass types take  _ time _ to grow strong. But you can’t be thinkin’ of bestin’ this gym with a grass type.”

“Maybe I am. What of it?” she asked, irreverent. 

“Quite a bit of pride in yah then, is there?” Ramos said, not really a question.

“Of course.”

“Let’s see if yah deserve it then, or if yah’ve gotten too close to the sun. Jumpluff, acrobatics!”

The blue ball of dandelion fluff squeaked out a reply and started rolling about in the air as if buffeted by a high wind. It went high, and then came down hard on its descent towards Saturn.

Lovely. A highly maneuverable flying type.

“Venoshock!” she spat out fast. Time to see  _ how _ maneuverable. 

Purple gunk shot directly out at the Jumpluff, even faster than at the practice Saturn had done at the Center. Jumpluff barrel-rolled to the right, but still got one dandelion-puffball covered in goop that started to smoke. It growled, and used what was left of its kinetic energy to slam into Saturn, who grunted. 

Both combatants backed away and gave the other space, giving their trainers time to think. 

“Hey Saturn? You up for some experimenting?”

“Sauuur!” He growled an affirmative and deepened his stance. 

“Awesome. Fill the arena sky with leaves. Razor leaf!”

A rustling sound from Saturn, and then he nigh- _ exploded _ with leaves, green whistling everywhere with the threat of death by papercut. Brienne peered through the blizzard, and saw that while still in the air, and taking little damage from the wide area attack, the Jumpluff was no longer rolling about. The leaves in the air cut its mobility.

_ Perfect. _

“Okay Saturn, cut the leaves and make a  _ big _ puddle of poison right in front of you. Big and splashy.”

The Ivysaur did as told, purple oozing out of him and onto the ground, which refused to absorb it.

Jumpluff squeaked and used the opportunity to attack Saturn again, and he only dodged most of it. 

“Big enough. Roll in it! Get all covered in that stuff! It won’t hurt you.”

Watching Saturn roll in the puddle of poison was a big like watching a large dog roll in mud. You just  _ knew _ that it’d be a pain and a half to clean all that stuff off, and it’d smell like hell in the meantime. But this would  _ probably work.  _

Brienne grinned at Ramos. “Razor leaf all over the place again!”

The leaves flew into the air, and this time every single one of them was  _ coated _ in poison. Jumpluff screamed as any escape from the attack vanished, and it started to float downwards.

“Finish it with Venoshock!”

Saturn got a running jump, flung off his payload, and the Jumpluff met with a face full of purple  _ muck. _ It went splat on the ground and didn’t move.

“Jumpluff is unable to battle. Challenger wins the first round!”

“Fantastic job, Saturn! Willing to keep going?”

“Saur!” He barely looked at her, too busy growling at Ramos.

Ramos snorted and shook his head. “That’s somethin’ I’ve not seen before. Very well. Let’s see how yah handle this.”

A Weepinbell appeared on the field, and Brienne stared at it.

Another grass and poison type. Saturn  _ could _ take it out, but it’d take a very long time, and liberal use of slamming the venus-flytrap lookalike against the ground. Doable, but…

“Saturn?” Brienne asked. “Up to you.”

Saturn eyed the Weepinbell. He muttered something that sounded like an ‘eh’ and turned around, shrugging at his trainer. He walked towards her, leaving little purple footprints in his wake.

“Right then,” Brienne nodded, and quickly returned him, sending out something that just may have been overkill.

“Time for weed removal, Dresden!”

Ramos, on the other side of the gym, winced. “Poison powder!”

Deep violet sparkling motes puffed out of the flytrap, moving faster than just the breeze in the arena. Brienne grinned.

“Flamethrower the cloud!”

Fire met poison and exploded  _ spectacularly, _ reacting just like flour did when given the chance. Most of the explosion rebounded on Weepinbell, as the source of the powder. Dresden shrugged off the few cinders that hit his fur and waited. 

Even the referee had winced. “Weepinbell is unable to battle. Challenger wins the second round.”

“Okay Dresden, this is Saturn’s show.” Brienne called.

Dresden nodded, barked once, and returned.

“One more battle, Saturn!” The Ivysaur returned to the field, saw the giant scorch mark on the ground, and snorted. 

“Meet my strongest friend. Gogoat!” Ramos called.

What appeared on the field looked more like a  _ ram _ than a goat, but hey. Cloven hooves stamped against the solid dirt floor, and she wondered if it had any ground-typed attacks.

Once again, it was a grass type, so anything that wasn’t poison from Saturn would cancel out on the Gogoat. She had tackle, and venoshock. This was workable. 

Ramos struck first. “Bulldoze!”

There was a little rumble in the ground that made chills run down Brienne’s spine as the Gogoat kneeled down and shoved its head in the soil. That the soil rose up and started rushing towards Saturn was the real surprise.

“What the  _ fuck! _ ” Brienne yelled as Saturn was run over. He came out the other side worse for wear, but still standing. 

Gogoat, consequence of the attack, was maybe a foot or two away from Saturn. 

“Venoshock, rapid fire! Don’t let him get away!” Shot after shot of muck hit the goat, who stared it down as he began to glow white. 

“Take down!”

_ Oh she knew that one. _

“Keep firing! You can do this!” Saturn got as rooted as he could and turned into a machine gun of poison, hitting his target again and again as they ran bull-for-hell towards him. 

Gogoat hit Saturn with what looked like the force of a freight train, sending them both ass-over-teakettle, mud and poison slop covering the both of them. They rolled, and finally came to a stop in the middle of the field. 

Gogoat stood up. Shakily, head bowed in exertion, but up.

“Ivysaur is unable to battle!”

Brienne sighed and returned Saturn, pressing her forehead to the ‘ball afterwards. “You were a force of nature in there Saturn. You did  _ awesome. _ ”

Her eyes rose to meet Ramos’ as she pull the ‘ball away. “You know what comes next.”

He sighed. “Yes. Yes I do.”

“Dresden,  _ finish it! _ ”

The Braixen snarled into appearance and jabbed his staff forward, fire rushing forward. Gogoat, too tired to dodge, got roasted.

“Gogoat is unable to battle. Dresden wins the round. Brienne Lalonde wins the match!”

Brienne smiled softly. “Good job, Dres.”

He gave her the smallest of eye-rolls and returned himself without preamble. 

Ramos leaned back onto his heels, shaking his head. “That’s a lot of belief in yer Pokemon yah got there. An’ they believe in yah too. Mighty oaks from acorns grow.” He smiled at her. “Come  up here, let an old man shake your hand.”

She had to dodge puddles of oozing poison, some of it smoking not all that quietly, hissing sounds coming from the soil. 

Brienne, as short as she was, was still taller than Ramos, who only came up to her chin. He gladly reached out and clasped her hand, covering it with his second. “I think I might be seein’ a mighty oak one day. Here’s your Plant badge, Flower.”

She blinked at him, tears welling in her eyes, barely feeling the cool metal and enamel of the badge in her palm. 

“Did I say somethin’ wrong? Oh, don’t cry, I don’t know how to deal with cryin’ ladies, do you want some tea?” 

The shock must have shown on her face. “My grandmother called me Flower. I, just...it came as a surprise. She’s been dead for years now.”

“Ah, I see. I’m sorry for bringin’ up sad memories.”

“Not your fault,” she replied, a small smile on her face. “I still like it.”

Ramos smiled shyly, adjusting his hat. “Alright then, Flower, you seem to be done here. Your way down is a slide just off to the left. Have fun!”

“You mean I don’t have to go  _ down _ the rope climb?”

“Oh, heavens no. Winners get the fast way down.” Ramos grinned.

Brienne all but skipped her way to the slide, sat down, and quickly pushed off. “Woooohoooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

~*~

It was late afternoon when Brienne emerged from the local Center, Saturn healed and reward check from the gym cashed. There was a hot breeze coming from the south, heat from the badlands just outside of town. She spotted an old and broad tree just across the road and sat under the branches. 

The leaves created a large patch of shade that felt a whole ten degrees cooler than being in the sun. The grass was plush and fluffy, a couch cushion of comfort. 

Saturn’s pokeball felt warm in her hands. She released him and smiled as he blinked up at her.

“Saaaur…” he frowned as much as he was able on his wide, blunt face and looked down, pawing at the grass. 

“Oh, no, Saturn, you did  _ so _ well. You took that gym by  _ storm _ , love. You took out his Jumpluff without any help and nearly had his Gogoat as well,” she said, reaching out to cuddle him. “You didn’t see that Gogoat after that attack. It looked  _ exhausted _ and sick. Your poison attacks had done him in and Dresden barely had to do anything. It’s my fault for telling you not to dodge that take down and I’m sorry about that.”

“Iv-saaaur?” He tilted his head.

“Yeah. My fault.” Brienne shrugged.

“Sauuuur!” He shook his head and stomped, once, and pulled out of her hug to stomp away a bit more. 

“Saturn? What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?” She half-stood and stared. He’d stopped just outside the border of the shade. 

His leaves spread wide and he smiled broadly. “Saaaaur!” Light collected on the spread leaves and sank in towards the base of his plant, acting more like glowing water than actual light. She smelled lavender and plumeria again as his eyes closed and she held her breath. She hadn’t actually  _ seen _ him evolve the first time, her headache too strong to notice much of anything. Was this…?

A low bass rumble echoed through her ribs as the collected water-light took over Saturn’s entire form. She could see the outline of his bloom grow and blossom out into a flower of gigantic proportions, trunk growing up so the petals fell over the sides. The leaves of the plant grew even larger and wider, reminding her of plants straight out of a rainforest. The scent of lavender and plumeria grew pungent, assaulting her senses and sinuses, making her sneeze. Saturn himself grew  _ large _ , much bigger than either of his two previous forms, a tiny dinosaur with a not-so-tiny plant on its back. 

The light faded away, the smell not so much, and left her with a ‘mon  _ much _ larger than she expected, even after researching the final evolution. 

Saturn made eye contact with her and  _ roared. _ The bass bowled through her ribcage, a mid-summer thunderstorm contained within a mortal being. 

“Saturn?” she breathed, unable to tell if she should smile or all of a sudden be very nervous. The large face grinned and took his first large step, and then its second, and then Brienne blinked and she was on her ass, looking up at her new Venusaur. 

He licked her face. 

“Saturn!” she squeaked and rubbed the slobber off. It smelled like sugar, oddly enough. 

Eventually the sound of clapping came to her ears and she blushed, hiding her face in Saturn’s, who was content to cuddle her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me forever, and I am sorry. Coumarine happens to be that ONE phase that is super-boring to me as a writer, even if it isn't boring as a reader. Things should pick up now that we're heading down rt 13 next chapter.   
> Thanks for reading!


	22. Kalosian Western: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, ladies, gents, and non-binary folks, it's the Power Plant chapter! The Badlands are 'bad' for more than one reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay folks, listen up. You see that shiny new icon I have? I wrote 50K words for Eyes. Now I'm going to have the busiest next three months of my life because Christmas and sudden trip to England and France, and I have to prep for it all. So updates will still probably be sporadic, but not nearly as badly as they have been. I also still have scenes to write, as NaNo is not about staring at a screen until you feel the inspiration to write THAT particular scene, but about typing until your hands fall off. (Which mine nearly did.)   
> I will say I got a fair distance done in my plot. Not to the main climax, but a fair chunk. And my characters stole the keyboard more often than not.   
> As always, enjoy the chapter, leave a comment.

She’d never been stopped by a Ranger before. 

 

“Hey, are you heading to Lumiose?” the orange-dressed Ranger asked, brows furrowed in concern. 

 

“Yeah?” Brienne raised an eyebrow. She’d slathered herself in sunblock, and the smell still hadn’t made its way out of her nose. Her hat was firmly on her head, and regardless of the heat she wore jeans and sneakers to keep the sun off her lower half. She’d heard that the Badlands made for difficult hiking, and sandals just weren’t going to cut it. 

 

“You need to pack more water on you. A  _ lot _ more.” The Ranger said. “I don’t care how much you already have on you, you need more. Route thirteen is straight through the Badlands and every year we get SOS calls from trainers who didn’t pack enough water. It could be anywhere from a two-day hike to a five-day hike.  _ Pack more water. Now. _ ”

 

“I’ve got five gallons on me?” Brienne offered, to see if that was enough.

 

“Not bad,” the Ranger offered. “Double it.” 

 

“Seriously? Ten gallons?” Her jaw dropped. Her backpack may have had some awesome compression capabilities, but ten gallons of water was still a lot of water, and heavy to boot. 

 

“Yes. If it means we don’t have to rescue you from dehydration and heat stroke, you’ll be glad of the extra weight. And anyways, it’ll lighten as you go. I guarantee you, by the end of tonight you’ll have gone through two gallons. And most of it will go through  _ sweat. _ ”

 

Brienne sighed and nodded. “Alright.”

 

“Good!” the Ranger chirped, voice very chipper for guy with a ridiculous baritone. “The Pokemon Center will give you a five gallon container for a low price. Show it to me full when you come back, and I’ll let you through.”

 

~*~

 

Okay, that Ranger wasn’t kidding when he said the badlands would be a hard hike. She could still see Coumarine in the distance behind her as she headed south-southeast. The ground was rocky and uneven, giving way to sand that shifted under her feet, wrecking her balance and sapping her strength. She’d nearly faceplanted twice, when a thin coating of solid soil broke into a sharp pile of sand and scree that slid away under her foot. 

 

Ground-types were common here, and she could see moving piles of soil a distance away from her, like tiny Dune-like sandworms. At least none of  _ these _ creatures wanted to eat her.

Probably. 

 

The sun beat down on her, a smith’s forge of heat and dead air. She sat down and dug out her first gallon of water, thanking this world’s science as it still felt ice-cold. Wiping the condensation from the jug onto her face, she considered soaking her hair to help keep cool, and then dismissed the idea. If water would be as precious as the Ranger had said it would, that would be a waste of it. 

 

Her ‘caster said it was one in the afternoon. Hottest part of the day. She glanced at the sun, high in the sky, and made a decision to camp down for a few hours. This would  _ not _ be a fast trip. 

 

“Saturn, buddy, want some sunlight? There’s nothing  _ but _ that out here,” she murmured as she released the newly-evolved Venusaur. 

 

He rumbled in approval, the sound once again echoing through her ribs, and somehow his leaves got even bigger, spreading out to take advantage of the high sun. 

 

Brienne grinned, and slipped into the shade the large, fern-like leaves made. Oh,  _ oh, _ this had to be at  _ least _ ten degrees cooler. She leaned against his large bulk, and blinked in surprise when she felt coolness against her arm. Venusaur were cold-blooded? That made sense, their plant looked tropical and they had a ridiculous weakness to ice-type attacks. She hadn’t noticed when Saturn was smaller. 

 

A moment and her backpack was off, and she was scrunched into the space between Saturn’s back and the trunk of his plant. His cool, bumpy-smooth skin felt like lying on an ice pack with a few towels over it. Absolute bliss. She was short enough that not even her feet stuck out from the created shadow. She could definitely wait out the hot parts of the day like this, and Saturn would get extra sunlight. He would probably need a pool’s worth of water once she got to Lumiose, but for now the setup would work.

 

A nap also seemed like a good idea, but then she remembered all those heat-stroke public safety announcements from home.  _ ‘Don’t fall asleep outside, even in the shade!’ _ Right then, research it was. 

 

Celebi: The Time Travel Pokemon. Found mostly in Johto and Kanto, this Legendary Pokemon lives in forests and retreats from violent situations. If a forest is thriving, it is said that Celebi has blessed the forest, and that better times are on the horizon. 

 

_ ‘Time travel, seriously? How the hell is that pulled off? That’s quantum physics you’re messing with at that point.’ _ Brienne huffed and stared at the sparse information for this particular legendary. Sycamore’s notes were scrawled on the side, a few words crossed out in his frustration. 

 

‘Oak, once again, has kept most information on this legendary to himself, but I understand why, for this. Time travel is not to be bothered with. Between Celebi and Dialga, one could warp time beyond imagining. Celebi has been spotted in Johto, in Ilex forest, within the last fifty years, on and off. Pinning down one specific spot is difficult, this legendary is notorious for its roaming. The best bet is camping out at a shrine.’

 

Brienne sighed and mentally crossed that one off her list. Time travel wasn’t what she was aiming for anyway. Wrong side of the space-time continuum coin.

 

The wrinkled pile of papers and photographs was all she had at this point, and so far most of the legendaries were on the other side of the world, let alone did not have the abilities she was looking for. It was frustrating. She had gotten here  _ somehow _ , and no way in hell was it through random chance. 

 

Latios/Latias: The Eon Duo. The most famous pair of this dragon/psychic-type legendary protect Alto Mare, Johto. They are known for their invisibility and psychic skills. Where one is, the other is never far. Other sightings of these legendaries have been noted in Hoenn. 

 

‘Probably not what you’re looking for. There’s actually plenty of information on these two. While shy, they will befriend specific trainers.’

 

_ Another one bites the dust. _ Brienne folded the page over and blinked at the almost cartoonish drawing of the next legendary.

 

Jirachi: The Wish Maker. Trapped for a thousand years in a comet that came to earth, Jirachi only awakens for a week to grant wishes of a pure heart, and then returns to a millennial slumber.  

 

There were no notes attached to this one. Definitely not the culprit. 

 

Deoxys: The DNA Pokemon. Some theories state that Deoxys is a mutated virus from space given sentience. Highly elusive, it was spotted only once over LaRousse City, Hoenn. Seen to have powerful psychic abilities. Many think it explores outer space.

 

Rayquaza: The Sky High Pokemon. Rayquaza spends most of its life in the stratosphere, destroying spacial debris long before it gets to the planet, and eats the smaller meteorites as they arrive. It can be spotted with powerful telescopes and satellite cameras. Legend states that Rayquaza calmed the fight between Kyogre and Groudon before they could destroy the planet in raging seas and explosive volcanic activity. 

 

Interesting, but not what she was looking for. 

 

Groudon and Kyogre were planetary elementals, earth and water specifically, and while powerful, it wasn’t power in the range she was looking for. 

 

Brienne sighed and packed up the folder. A whole lot of interesting information, but none that really hinted at what had brought her here, or even better, what could send her back home. Celebi had possibility, but only in finding out what might have been around her the day she arrived in Santalune Forest. 

 

She grumbled softly and drank more water. Ten degrees cooler or not, it was still hellishly hot. 

 

She  _ swore _ she had a book in the pack  _ somewhere.  _ It was a cute little fantasy action/adventure piece that had Pokemon as rescuers that took missions to save other Pokemon. Real cute, and she felt a lot of sympathy for the main character, who couldn’t remember who they were. 

 

It took shoving her arm in her pack all the way to the shoulder to find the worn paperback, threading it out from between clothes and other camping supplies. She was right smack in the middle and there was a big fight ahead with a Grovyle. 

 

The book was her attempt to understand the culture she found herself in when she had little access to a TV. She had a radio, but that came out once the sun set and she couldn’t see the words on a page anymore. There was a lot in common with what she had grown up with, but then someone would say something odd and catch her off guard. The effects were jarring. 

 

~*~

 

When she finally rolled off Saturn and set off again, it was five in the afternoon and the sun was well to the west. The heat, still horrible, was  _ less _ , and therefore tolerable and easier to walk in. Well, as easy as it was to walk in ground that couldn’t stay under foot when you put weight on it. The guidebook said to not walk the Badlands at night, as Diglett and Dugtrio were nocturnal and stepping into an invisible hole was the best way to break a leg or ankle. 

 

This would be a  _ very _ long hike. 

 

The wind whistled in her ears and small bits of sand whipped into her face and eyes. She dug into her pack again for a flimsy scarf to tie around her face, heat be damned. Sand was  _ worse. _

 

She glanced at the sun around seven-thirty, to estimate how much more walking time she had left, when she caught the outline of a giant tower, spire point reaching high into the sky. 

 

“The fuck is  _ that? _ ” she asked the empty air. A quick glance at the map told her that ‘that’ was the power plant for the northern half of the region. 

 

She frowned and glared at it. Last she knew, Northern Lumiose was still in blackout. It’d been over a month and no one had been to solve the problem, let alone put on news what the problem  _ was. _

 

She glanced at the map again and started walking west, towards the sun and the power plant. She could be one hell of an irritant when she wanted to be, and something just straight-up smelled fishy. Electricity was  _ important _ and since this was a  _ solar _ power plant, the problem couldn’t be the source. The Badlands almost  _ never _ got rain. 

 

She wouldn’t make it there before sunset, but she would before she stopped in the early afternoon the next day. She could find out what was wrong during her downtime, refill her water stores, and head out again in early evening. Just a small detour. 

 

~*~

 

Camping down for the night in the Badlands was a different experience from any other place she’d camped beforehand. The wind was endless and unceasing, a whistle against rocks and boulders that hadn’t been broken down by the ground types in the area. Haunting, a flute note that petered out into flatness and grew again in odd, skitter-skat intervals. 

 

Even with the sun down, it was still too hot to pitch her tent. Her pack made a good enough windbreak that she wouldn’t have to deal with sand in her face all night long. Even if the wind was endless, it was constant in its direction. Her bedroll made a good enough cushion against the ground--Grace had not skimped on the supplies, a fact Brienne was more than grateful for--and she laid back, Dresden at her side for snuggles and Saturn out just to enjoy the night, and stared at the night sky. 

 

Now that she wasn’t in a hurry to get to a town, and that any sign of civilization was far enough away to dim the sky, the stars  _ truly _ shined in the night. It took her breath away, the sheer density of the spots of white, sparkling blue, glimmering orange. She’d left behind the Horns of Xerneas back in Shalour, but she didn’t need that colossus of a constellation to awe her, to cast her soul into the vastness of the cosmos. 

 

Cast away, she felt, adrift and  _ lost _ , not one shape in that infinity familiar to her. Her eyes roamed, jumped from star-shape to star-shape, breathless. She was no astronomer, back home, but she knew the common constellations, Ursa Major and Minor, Cassiopeia, Orion, Cygnus, her birth constellation Leo, Aquila; could identify when Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury rose into the sky, bright enough to outshine everything else for their moment. 

 

She’d looked it up, this solar system had  _ no other planets.  _ How  _ lonely _ must their early astronomers have been, to see no greater celestial bodies in the night sky? She gasped in air and swallowed, clutched Dresden tighter to her, just the right size to tuck into her, as if a small child. He whined softly and nuzzled at her chin. 

 

How  _ scared _ she was, to not see one recognizable star. To not see one sign of the very things that would  _ never _ change in her lifetime. Maybe if she had done more studies, she could go to the scientists of this world, give them the specifics of the stars, and  _ maybe,  _ figure out where home was. But she didn’t have the celestial knowledge.

 

And even  _ if _ she could figure out  _ where _ home was, that didn’t mean she could get there, or send a message. At least not one that would get there before she died of old age. 

 

Her ribs felt empty with loss, bordered by fear.

 

She had to make due with what she had. Say goodbye to what she’d lost.

 

She started crying, her face buried into Dresden’s fur. 

 

Sleep found her, and claimed her that way.

 

~*~

 

Dawn woke her, crusty and bleary eyed, and a crying-jag headache. She packed away her bedroll, switched her shirt out, drank a lot of water, gave water to Dresden and Saturn, ate what she could of a breakfast--bread and jam, with something that was a lot like jerky but definitely not meat--knocked the sand and pebbles out of her shoes and put them on. Saturn and Dresden whined a little about being returned, she soothed them as much as she could. 

 

They seemed concerned about her about last night. They were right to worry, and she’d talk about it with them when she was ready. She couldn’t now. Not yet. She had somewhere to be today, anyway. 

 

There was a power plant that had a lot of questions to answer, and she’d get them, one way or another. The spire of the plant grew in her vision until it got to be too big to look at without craning her head and neck back painfully. She focused on finding the front door to the giant complex.

 

Something inside of her sank in disappointment when she spotted the eye-searing red orange suit. Something  _ else _ inside of her cackled in gleeful excitement, ready to leap at the chance to take something down violently. She found herself siding with the internal glee. 

 

Brienne stomped up to the red orange dressed buffon. “Why are you lot here now?”

 

Said buffon simpered at her. There was dirt scuffs on the knees of his trousers and his shoes were more dirt-brown than black. “I lost the card key!”

 

“So...you’re locked out?” Brienne asked, voice as dry as the desert.

 

“The admins are gonna kill me! I last had it around that big rock there but now I can’t find it!”

 

She eyed the rock, made her way over to it, and peered down. There, half-buried in sand, was a laminated card with a magnetic strip. She picked it up and dusted it off.

 

“You mean this card key?” she said.

 

“Yup, that card key!”

 

Brienne stared at him as he proved himself to be a particularly dim person. “I’mma give you five seconds to scram before I take out my Pokemon and forcibly point you in the right direction. Coumarine is a day’s hike north-northeast of here. Shoo!”

 

He took in her quickly darkening look and vamoosed, aimed towards the path she had just come from. It’d suck, but he’d make it to Coumarine alive enough. It wasn’t like the path wasn’t well marked. 

 

Obstacle removed, Brienne spotted a shed-like building and made her way towards it. It was three sides of cement and one side of steel door with an electronic card reader. A quick swipe with her new key card and a green light blinked on, some tumblers inside the door clunked around, and the door opened easily, nary a squeak. The sunlight revealed a set of stairs going down.

 

“Oh. Everything’s underground. Fucking  _ wonderful _ .”

 

A Pokeball at her hip rattled and opened on its own, releasing Gl’bgolyb to glow and coo at her softly. The little cuttlefish settled on her head and pointed forwards, into the complex. 

 

Breath shuddered out of her slowly as she took the first few steps, sunlight at her back. Then the door shut behind her, electric lights filling in the gap but not enough to disguise the fact that she was underground. Her spine prickled, but then Glubby glowed brighter and the fear didn’t come. 

 

Her curiosity got the better of Brienne as she continued to descend, the lack of sound prompting multiple questions, foremost of all: Where  _ was _ everybody?

 

She turned a corner and ran into  _ another _ member of Team Flare, who jumped at her appearance. 

 

“Who are  _ you? _ ” The Flare grunt asked, her tone of voice so snobbish Brienne was tempted to check for a stick sticking out of her butt. 

 

“A nosy busy-body,” Brienne quipped in return. “What the hell are  _ you _ doing here?”

 

“None of your combee-wax!” she snapped. “In with the other hostages you go.” She made to grab Brienne’s arm. 

 

“Oh fuck no!” Brienne snarled, slapping her hand away. (And what was with nobody but her cursing?) 

 

“You’re coming with me!” the Flare woman growled, and sent out a croagunk. 

 

Brienne stared at the poison frog, and laughed. “Glubby, take it out!”

 

The little cuttlefish popped off her head and smacked the croagunk with a psychic blast. It dropped over flat unconscious.

 

“You...you! How dare you!”

 

Honestly, the behavior confused the hell out of her. “This is a  _ battle. _ ”

 

“Golbat!”

 

“Another poison type?  _ Really? _ ” Brienne snorted. It was barely seconds before the poison bat was unconscious as well. “Glubby, put her against the wall,” she snarled.

 

The psychic-dark type cooed happily, tentacles waving as the Flare grunt yelped, thrown and pinned against the wall none too gently, bruises sure to form on her back. 

 

Brienne stalked up the grunt, and even though she was shorter, the look in her eyes made the grunt swallow hard. “What. Are. You.  _ Doing _ . Here?”

 

“Wuh-we’re t-taking the power. We n-need the energy.”

 

Oh that was never good. She dropped her voice lower. “ _ Why _ ?”

 

“I don’t know!” the grunt wailed. “They don’t tell me anything! I’m just a low level officer!” She sniffled. 

 

Brienne snarled. “Where are the hostages?”

 

“D-down the hall to the right.”

 

With a hand waved dismissively, Gl’bgolyb released the female grunt and she sank to the floor, shaking. 

 

“Stay  _ there,” _ Brienne growled, spinning on a heel and walking further into the plant complex. 

 

There was another grunt as guard in front of the door, and Brienne didn’t even give him the chance to release a Pokemon, she had Glubby throw him against the opposite wall. He hit with a dull clanging  _ thud _ and dropped like a rock to the floor. He twitched a little, but nothing beyond that--out cold. 

 

“Good,” Brienne nodded, and stepped into the room. 

 

It looked like a modified break room. Wide, comfortable couches, soft chairs, a couple tables, a refrigerator, microwave, coffee machine. What surprised her was the sheer amount of  _ people _ inside. It was possibly every single plant worker, a couple of hikers like herself, and even a very dejected  _ cop _ .

 

Welp. There was evidence right there that the regional police force was shit. Why wasn’t this place  _ swarming _ with cops?

 

Brienne stared. The room looked like it’d been lived in for a very long time, messy. The people were ruffled beyond belief, tired, hair greasy. They didn’t look starved, for a matter of appearances, but it counted.

 

“Is everyone okay?” Brienne asked, Glubby perching on her head again. 

 

The cop stood from his slump and tried to regather some of his importance. “No one is injured, but we haven’t been allowed to leave this room, except for short trips to the restroom,” he reported. “Have the Lumiose police come?” he asked.

 

Brienne snorted. “No. It’s just me here. Look, get out of here, find a phone, call Lumiose or Coumarine, see if they’ll send anyone down, but even then it’ll be a while. If everyone’s okay, I’m going to go deal with the rest of Flare here.”

 

“We can get power going back to the city as soon as they’re out,” one worker called out. 

 

The police officer, a short guy not much taller than her, stepped forward and tried to intimidate Brienne. “I am going with you.”

 

“You got any Pokemon?” Brienne asked, sharp.

 

“...No.”

 

“Call Lumiose. This won’t take me long.”

 

She turned her back on the break room, left the door open, and went further into the complex, rage building along her spine and in her gut.

 

This was a  _ terrorist situation _ and  _ no one had responded _ to it. What the hell was  _ wrong _ with this region? Where were the police, beyond one lonely officer? Hell, where was the army?

 

It didn’t make  _ sense, _ and now she had to take out whoever was leading this mess of a hostage situation before they blew this place sky high or something.

 

...At least they didn’t have guns. 

 

~*~

 

Gl’bgolyb was fucking  _ badass _ . Then again, it could also be a point to the Flare goons that they couldn’t train a Pokemon for shit. Their ‘mons went down nearly as fast as they did, as Brienne left a trail of groaning and unconscious bodies behind her in her anger. 

 

_ Not here. Not in this world. Not if she had something to say about it. _

 

Glubby cooed, floating at her shoulder, for the more people they defeated and put out of the fight, the happier the cuttlefish got. She flowed through battles, barely even skirmishes, clearly having some sort of prior experience in a fight. 

 

Brienne felt a growing fire in the back of her mind, a crashing in her ears like white noise that never went away, and the angrier she got the louder it became. She snarled and barely spoke, simply pointing a command to her Inkay and watching the destruction. She was a one-woman army and these bastards were going down. 

 

She slammed open the heavy steel door to the main reactor room, not bothering to hide her presence, her intention, or her rage. 

 

“What’s up, motherfuckers?!?” Brienne shouted to the room at large. 

 

There was a pair standing in front of the solar collector, still dressed in Flare orange but clearly a different uniform, possibly the higher ups. One, a shaved bald man in a white suit with a violently orange tie, gloves, and sunglasses. The other was a woman, hair just as horribly orange as everything else Flare did, some sort of face gear that covered her eyes and nose, and a dress that flared out at mid-thigh.

 

“ _ Excusez-moi? _ What did you say?” she simpered, hand to her mouth in shock. 

 

“You heard me! ‘Sup? Heard you’d hijacked the power plant. I’m here to fix that little problem. Who the hell do you fucking think you are?” Brienne snarled, fists clenched. 

 

The woman sniffed, nose in the air--not that Brienne could  _ see _ it. “ _ I _ am Aliana, and  _ you _ are clearly too uncouth to know the plans of the great, glorious Flare. Deal with her,” she said offhandedly to the man next to her. 

 

Aliana’s enforcer loomed up to Brienne. Unfortunately for him, Brienne wasn’t having any of it. As he got within range, she cocked back one arm and socked him solidly in the face. 

 

“Son of a  _ bitch _ ,” she hissed, shaking her hand out. 

 

Aliana’s enforcer wobbled on his feet, and tilted over like a felled tree. 

 

“...I did not expect that to work,” she muttered, eyeing the dazed man.

 

Aliana pursed her lips. “I need better administrators, obviously. Hmph.”

 

Brienne stepped over that particular roadblock, almost growling at Aliana. 

 

Aliana sniffed again. “Don’t you have  _ any _ manners? My, what  _ are _ they teaching children these days? You don’t  _ punch _ people, you send out your Pokemon!” A flash of white, and a large Mightyena stood in front of its trainer, lips pulled back in a snarl. 

 

Gl’bgolyb ghosted forward to meet the challenge. 

 

“Roar!” Aliana commanded.

 

A sound that  _ should _ have come out of a lion exploded from the wolf-like Pokemon. Brienne slapped her hand over her ears and Glubby was forced back into her pokeball.

 

“The fuck?!” Brienne snapped. Her belt rattled and Kanaya popped out, surprised but more than ready to battle. Her trainer blinked at the matchup and started to laugh. “Oh, you fucked up.”

 

“How dare--!” Aliana gasped. 

 

“Disarming voice!” Brienne said, gleam in her eye. 

 

Kanaya opened her mouth and sang. Unfortunately for the poor Mightyena, it was a cacophony to its poor ears and it whined, dropping to the metal floor.

 

“Finish it with Draining Kiss!”

 

Kanaya danced in and gleefully gave the Mightyena a kiss on the head, right between the ears. It whined again and passed out. 

 

Aliana returned her defeated Pokemon and stomped her foot on the floor, like a spoiled child. “I didn’t expect you to be so strong!” she whined. “You’re more interesting than I thought. No matter. I am done here.”

 

Somehow,  _ in heels, _ Aliana outran Brienne to the door leading out of the main reactor room and into the hallway. By the time Brienne caught up, she was gone.

 

“The fuuuuck?”

 

~*~

 

Once Aliana was out of the power plant, things turned around very quickly. The plant workers quickly disbursed throughout the plant, dismantling the  _ giant _ hookup that Flare had somehow installed into the main reactor core. 

 

Brienne, with Marcone and Dirk helping her, spent the cleanup dragging still-dazed and cowed Flare grunts into the break room and tying them up with spare bits of wire cords. There was no way they were getting out of their binds without wire cutters.

 

The last one had been deposited on the couch when a small battalion of police officers stormed in, led by Sina and Dexio in very stylized half-face masks and scarves. 

 

“Looks like everything here is fine.” Sina said, nodding to herself. 

 

Brienne stared. “Sina? Dexio?”

 

“Who are these Sina and Dexio you speak of?” Dexio replied. “We are the Defenders of Kalos!”

 

Brienne’s suspension of disbelief had left the building a while ago. “No, you’re Sina and Dexio, Professor Sycamore’s aids, in silly costumes and masks.”

 

“Pardon?” Sina said, hand to her mouth in shock. “No matter. You must be a great trainer to have defeated Flare here! Have some Full Restores. Your Pokemon must need them,” Sina insisted, shoving multiple medical spray bottles into Brienne’s hands.

 

“Hey--no, they’re fine--” Brienne scrambled to keep them all from hitting the floor. 

 

“If that is all, we shall be going!” Dexio hummed, dashing out the door. 

 

“Good day!” Sina chirped, following.

 

“Hey, wait, you don’t get to run off on me!” Brienne ran after the two, arms full of bottles. Like Aliana, once they’d gotten out of sight, they were gone. She glared at the opposite wall. “I am gonna pester the  _ shit _ out of them when I see them in Lumiose.”

 

~*~

 

Water stores refilled, extra food packed via grateful plant workers, and questioned within an inch of her life by police officers, Brienne set back out into the Badlands, ready to take another two-day hike into Lumiose. 

 

“‘Just a quick detour,’ I thought. ‘Just wait out the hottest part of the day.’ Oh no, I had to break up a  _ hostage _ situation!” Brienne snarled to herself, sun already close to the horizon. 

 

Kanaya popped out of her pokeball, made a quick face at the heat, and matched pace with her trainer.  **_“That was a LOT of anger from you, Mom.”_ **

 

Brienne sighed and rolled her shoulders, glancing at her Kirlia. “Yeah, yeah it was.”

 

**_“Why?”_ **

 

“‘Cause no one was really doing anything about it? Besides one kinda hapless cop? ‘Cause it was too damn similar to what I’d come from? Because this place doesn’t need that kind of pain?”

 

**_“Why do YOU have to do it? You obviously don’t like the idea.”_ ** Kanaya frowned. 

 

“Because no one else was doing something about it. ‘Cause people were getting hurt. No electricity meant the North Lumiose Pokemon Center was shut down. It meant people didn’t have power in their  _ homes _ . Because I was  _ there _ and someone had to stop it!” She cut herself off, fists clenched tight again. 

 

Kanaya stopped in her tracks.  **_“You were terrified.”_ **

 

“...If I hadn’t sweated it all out, I’d have pissed my pants,” Brienne agreed, stopped as well.

 

There was a pause where the two of them started walking again.

 

**_“Were you scared where you were from?”_ **

 

“Sorta, yeah. It was an unconscious fear. Um, ‘it’s not going to happen here’ denial mixed with ‘oh god we’re all fucked I need to leave the country’ sort of terror. Makes for some real interesting anxiety, let me tell you. Seeing your world fall apart in random chunks while the whole country acts like it’s fine, and the people in power do nothing but argue, or make the problem worse.”

 

**_“How long have you been scared?”_ **

 

“Most of my life, I think,” Brienne admitted. “A major city got attacked when I was nine and nothing was the same since.” She shrugged. “I did my best to ignore the news channels. A lot of them were prone to fear-mongering, to up their ratings.”

 

**_“Why?”_ **

 

“...I don’t know. I just know it worked.”

 

**_“...And you want to go BACK?”_ ** Kanaya said, at a loss. 

 

Brienne kept silent for a long time. “It’s home. My life is there. My parents, my friends.”

 

**_“What about us?”_ ** Kanaya asked softly.

 

Brienne swallowed hard, throat clicking from dry air. “I don’t know. I think I love you just as much as I love them. You certainly  _ deserve _ my love, and like hell if I don’t deliver. I’m sorry, Kanaya.”

 

**_“It’s okay, Mom.”_ ** Kanaya sighed.  **_“I know you’re still thinking about it. I know it hurts.”_ **

 

She snorted. “You are wiser than your years. Man, you’re barely a few months old. A human baby would be getting carried everywhere still.”

 

**_“We grow fast,”_ ** she grinned. 

 

“That you do.”

 

~*~  

 

Day four in the Badlands. She had a sunburn on her arms and face, even though she kept up the sunscreen and hid under Saturn when the sun was highest in the sky. Her arms were solidly pink and they stung, her nose itched in a way that said if she scratched it, it’d sting like a  _ bitch, _ and she didn’t look forward to the peeling she’d be doing over the next week or so. 

 

And then freckles. Freckles  _ everywhere. _ Curse her Dad’s northern Irish pale skin. 

 

Thanks to any higher power that was listening, Brienne could see Lumiose in the distance, Prism tower reaching into the sky. God, she was  _ tired _ of desert and blowing sand and too much heat and ground types  _ everywhere _ and earth that wouldn’t stay stable under her feet she just wanted to walk was that so much to ask?

 

She understood why that Ranger back in Coumarine was so insistent on so much water. She’d used most of what she’d brought with her. 

 

A long and deep shadow loomed over her, and she jumped, startled.

 

“What?” For a minute, Brienne couldn’t quite comprehend just what she was looking at. It-- _ he _ \--was too damn tall. Giant hobo. Super long white hair. Worn jeans, arm and leg warmers, knit beanie cap, multiple coat and shirt layers, fingerless gloves and a  _ giant _ backpack. How he wasn’t  _ roasting _ in that getup was beyond her. 

 

His footsteps were huge, and soon he came even with her, his bass rumble of a voice loud even with a mumble. “Flower...Pokemon…”

 

“The fuck?” she squeaked, eyes wide. He had to be at  _ least _ eight feet tall, if not more. 

 

The giant man kept walking, almost as if she didn’t exist. 

 

“The fuck is this?”

 

He kept up an even, smooth pace, soon disappearing into the desert wind. Brienne looked down at his footprints, just to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating, and gaped when she saw just how  _ big _ they were, too. 

 

“The fuck is that? What even?” Brienne threw her hands up into the air. “What--I--fuck this. I have no more can. Get to Lumiose and pass the fuck out. That’s it.  _ March _ , missy.”

 

~*~

 

“Grace? Hi. I’m in Lumiose. I now match Dresden with a lovely sunburn, have more sand in my hair than I’ve  _ ever _ wanted, and hate the summer heat more than I could ever imagine. I am going the fuck to sleep. Call me the fuck tomorrow when you want to talk. After lunch. None of this early bird bullshit. I am sleeping in and then finding a spa because like  _ hell _ am I dealing with this sunburn alone. Good  _ night. _ ”


	23. Peace of Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first few days in Lumiose City! Light, life, and laughter!

She was blowing most of her savings from Cyllage to Coumarine, but this spa was  _ worth _ it. Brienne sat in a personal pool of mud, submerged up to her collarbones, a rawst berry-aloe salve poured delicately onto her burned skin, a rawst berry compote based hair potion soaking into her scalp. It made her hair look like knotted, kelpy seaweed, but it smelled like strawberries and vanilla, so she didn’t mind too much. On a small table to the side sat a large plate of nibbles, fruit slices and candies and fried savory pastries that had some sort of meat-like product in them. She could just reach them, daintily picking them up in her fingertips and devouring them a bit at a time. 

 

On cushions around the room sat or sprawled her team, each with their own spa regimen.

 

(Which was frankly  _ why _ this cost so much, it was a setup for seven beings, not just one.)

 

Saturn had two attendants to him, one which carefully misted water over his plant, and another that rubbed an aloe-based salve into his pebbly skin. His eyes were closed in complete bliss, a faint smell of lavender filling the room. 

 

Dresden was all but  _ purring, _ an attendant slowly combing through his fur with different levels of combs to get at the thickness of his coat. 

 

Glubby floated happily in a saltwater tank, taking a nap. 

 

Marcone laid facedown in a modified massage bed, a muscled male attendant almost punching in a massage. 

 

Dirk and Kanaya were buried in a pile of pillows and blankets, a slim hand occasionally peeking out to snag a berry from a nearby plate. 

 

Brienne woke up from a light doze when a finger poked her in the forehead. 

 

“Is it time to rinse off already?” she mumbled.

 

“Nope. I just came to repeatedly poke you in the forehead, maybe draw doodles in the goop there,” the voice joked.

 

Brienne’s eyes shot open, and she smiled. “Grace! I would hug you, but I’m naked and covered in mud. What are you doing here?”

 

“I know I said I’d meet you at the Center in a couple hours, but I thought I’d surprise you and find you here. Look at your team! Look at  _ you! _ That is a brilliant sunburn you’re sporting, the goop on your face still looks purple.”

 

“It was bright blue when they put it on. When it comes off I should peel  _ spectacularly, _ ” she yawned.

 

“Still tired from the walk?” Grace mused, pulling up a chair. 

 

“Walk?  _ Walk? _ That was the hike from  _ hell _ . I never want to have to do that again!”

 

“So I’ve heard. If you got away with just a sunburn, you did really well. A good percentage of trainers end up calling for help.” Grace smiled.

 

“And they just let people...go?” Brienne asked. “Even being told to carry extra water, there’s a lot that can go wrong.”

 

“There’s a Ranger outpost further to the east that patrols the Badlands, the path through is clearly marked, you saw that, and trainers can always stop at the Power Plant if they need a break.” Grace said. “It’s safe, if highly difficult. Training Pokemon isn’t just about training them,” she motioned to Brienne’s team. “It’s about training yourself, as well. Discipline. You can take the routes at any pace you wish, but you must take them at least once. It is part of the challenge.”

 

Brienne mulled that over. “Did you know the Power Plant had been hijacked?”

 

“Hijacked? The newspaper only read there’d been a malfunction at the plant. I read that you were there? It was sparse about what actually happened.” Grace frowned. “Did you come in the aftermath?”

 

“ _ I kicked Team Flare out! _ ” Brienne hissed. “It--” she sighed and sank further into the pool of mud, up to her chin. Her knees poked out at the other end. “There’s this stupid cult going around in violently orange suits. There were a couple of them in Glittering Cave and I just thought they were just some jerks. Then there was an endless procession of them on route eleven. Saturn saved my ass there,” she nodded toward said ‘mon. He blinked at her contently. 

 

“I didn’t see any in Shalour, which kind of made me forget about it, and none in Coumarine. But they were all over the plant, and from the way things were, they’d been there for  _ months. _ And they even had one cop in captivity. I stopped over there because I wanted to know why the blackout had been going so long. Why  _ hadn’t _ anyone else gone?”

 

“I...don’t know. All the papers said was that there had been a longstanding problem and it was just recently solved. Are you alright? Were you hurt?”

 

Brienne snorted. “No, not a scratch on me. They’re shit trainers, if really good at running away.”

 

Grace frowned harder. Was she  _ really _ that easy to read?

 

_ “Mom, you’re an open book.” _ Came from under the pillow.

 

“Dirk, your opinion wasn’t asked,” Brienne snarked gently.

 

A round of snickers rolled through the room. 

 

“ _ Are you okay? _ ” Grace asked, firmly, immovable as her Rhyhorn.

 

Brienne swallowed again. “I am now.”

 

“But you weren’t,” Grace surmised. “Oh, Brienne…”

 

“It was just like home! But no one was doing anything about it and that doesn’t make sense! There was a cop there and all the workers and another couple hikers and  _ no one _ had gone to check it out?” Brienne wailed, voice hoarse. “The cops should have been there in  _ droves _ , hell, where was the army? Or--or the gym leaders or Elite Four I keep hearing about, or Diantha? Why hadn’t word gotten out until I’d taken everyone out? It doesn’t make sense!”

 

Grace wrapped her arms around Brienne’s head in the best hug she could do at the moment, regardless of all the goop on her. “You’re safe now, it’s okay, let it out…”

 

“Just because I’m okay now doesn’t make it right!” 

 

“I know, love. I’ll see what I can do about this. Okay? I can talk to people.” Grace looked Brienne in the eye. “We’ll find out what’s going on, okay?”

 

“...Yeah.”

 

~*~

 

Shauna looked tired, Brienne thought. Tired but happy, as the sunlight fell on her face.

 

“Shauna!” Brienne called in joy, leaping at her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around her neck. “I  _ missed _ you.”

 

“Hello to you to, silly,” Shauna giggled, leaning over and squeezing tight. “Oh man, you have freckles all over.”

 

“Yes, well, yesterday I was red all over. I’m still kinda peeling in places,” she huffed. 

 

“Does that mean I can play connect the dots later?” Shauna said, impish. 

 

The heat slowly returned to her cheeks as she imagined just  _ how _ Shauna might go about doing that.

 

Calem sauntered out of the cafe behind Shauna, arms already crossed over his chest. “Oi, flirt later. You’re embarrassing yourselves.”

 

Brienne felt her lips curl up into  _ something _ smug, chin rising as she looked Calem in the eye, slipping into his personal space, eyebrow high. “Are you embarrassed, Calem, or something else? Because I’m pretty sure I could play ‘connect the dots’ with you too.”

 

His face turned a brilliant red as he stepped back. “N-no you’re just in public…”

 

“It’s Lumiose,” Shauna shrugged.

 

“Does this mean someone has an exhibishionist kink? Oh, Calem, I’m learning so many new things about you…” Brienne purred, her finger an inch away from his chest. She stared at him for a long moment before spinning on her heel and reaching to give Shauna a kiss on the cheek. 

 

“I just spent four days in a horrible desert. I want to be in as much air conditioning as I can possibly get. Wanna come with? I’m thinking that new movie that just came out yesterday, looks interesting. ‘The Dark Realm?’”

 

“Okay! Calem, you in?” Shauna asked, hand in Brienne’s. 

 

“...I’m good. See you later?” The blush still hadn’t faded from his face.

 

“Yup!” Brienne chirped, and started pulling Shauna away.

 

~*~

 

Calem glared at shop windows as he passed by them, frustration building in his chest. Shauna and Brienne were off having a date and she-- _ she! _ He swung his foot back and kicked a stone across the cobbled pavement, catching a Skiddo in the hoof and causing it to bleat at him unhappily. 

 

He winced and called out a weak “Sorry!” as it cantered away, probably to find a spot that didn’t have angry nineteen-year-olds kicking stones anywhere. He sighed and kept walking, anger and frustration muted for the moment. Did she  _ have _ to do that? In front of him?

 

He was okay with the relationship, more than okay, Shauna was so  _ happy _ when Brienne was around, he could never begrudge her that. But they did stuff like  _ that _ in front of him and something squirmed in his gut that felt a  _ lot _ like jealousy. And not only that, but Brienne kept  _ beating him _ in battles and it baffled him! He had so much more experience than she did.

 

Oh, Brienne hid it well, but with her nose in her pokedex and watching recorded pokemon battles and reading encyclopedias he knew she hadn’t had much experience with  _ actual _ pokemon. It kind of baffled him. How could she be so inexperienced? Pokemon were  _ everywhere. _

 

Admittedly, he’d grown up with two veteran trainers as parents, so he had more of a history than most, but it still confused him. She was a prodigy out of nowhere! Walked in, got her Pokemon, and blew everyone away! She had a problem with walking the actual routes, something he didn’t have issue with, she must not have gone camping much when she was younger. 

 

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear his name until the second call.

 

“Calem? Calem! Hello, Earth to Calem! Air-traffic control to the Dragonite Express!”

 

“Grace?” He knew the retired Rhyhorn-racer, she’d moved to Vaniville a few years ago and handed out the  _ best _ halloween candy, knew her more with Brienne arriving to the area. 

 

“Must have had something important going through your head to not notice me,” she teased gently.

 

He shrugged. “I thought you were in Vaniville.”

 

“Mmmn. Nope. Brienne’s birthday is day after tomorrow, I’m having a surprise party for her. You wanna come?” Grace looked  _ knowing _ , which confused him. 

 

“Ah, sure.”

 

“Great. Also, Augustine offered to take me out from drinks tonight. Figured I give him another chance, he seems to have mellowed out.”

 

Calem choked on his own spit. “I did not need to know that.”

 

Grace giggled. “Let me take your mind off it. You want to get Bri a present?”

 

“Uh...I guess.” He had no idea  _ what _ to get her, let alone anything else.

 

“Oh boy.” Grace looked him up and down, hands on her hips. “I have a lot of work to do with you.”

 

“ _ What? _ ”

 

“You heard me.” Grace started walking, and he was so stunned he had to jog to keep up. 

 

“What do you mean by that?” He almost sputtered.

 

“You’re so stuck in your shell! You gotta loosen up if you  _ ever _ really want her attention. She’s just playing with you right now, you know that, right?”

 

“Shauna? She does that  _ all the time _ ,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m used to it.”

 

Grace just  _ laughed, _ head back, belly-deep guffaws that shook her whole frame. 

 

“ _ What?! _ ”

 

“At least this’ll be fun,” Grace said to herself, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him away.

 

“Grace, Grace what are you  _ doing? _ ”

 

“You’ll see!” she trailed off, still tugging.

 

“Gods help me.”

 

~*~

 

“The thing about Brienne is that she’s absolutely desperate for people to lean on,” Grace said, musing at the collection of instruments on the wall. 

 

Calem furrowed his brows. “Seriously?”

 

“Mmhm. Imagine having your whole support system, the thing you’ve been unconsciously building ever since you knew you needed one, ripped away from you in an instant.” 

 

He stared, shocked. “What happened?”

 

“Not my secret to tell,” Grace shook her head and headed deeper into the music store. “All you need to know right now is that she’s rebuilding her world one brick at a time. She’s been doing well with it. The League Challenge has been the crucible she needed. But.”

 

“She doesn’t tell us anything,” Calem grumbled. “Something...set her off in Shalour. She was so  _ sad _ and the look on her face that night was so  _ broken _ …”

 

“Were you there for her?” Grace asked, face knowing.

 

Mild affront went through him. “Of course! We all were! And Shauna wouldn’t let her go.” He folded his arms over his chest. 

 

“That’s all you need to do then. Her teasing you is her way of saying she appreciates you. She’s opening herself up enough to say she trusts you to understand her when she teases you, that she only means it in good fun.” Grace hummed and nodded to herself. “Do you understand?”

 

“...Sort of? Why can’t she just outright say it?”

 

“She doesn’t think she can lean her whole emotional weight on you yet. Prove that, and she will.”

 

Calem shifted in place and let that go through his mind. 

 

“So what are you going to do about your crush?”

 

He  _ squeaked. _

 

~*~

When Brienne walked into Sycamore’s building, the receptionist recognized her and ushered her to the elevator right away. Regardless of the fact that she still had most of her double mocha-latte with a dash of vanilla and cocoa powder on whip cream to get through. 

 

She had her nose deep in the whipped cream when the elevator opened again and Sycamore made to hug her.

 

“Ack, no, what of the caffeinated drinks! Think of the coffee!” Brienne squawked, yanking the drink out of range as the lithe professor wrapped around her. 

 

Sycamore chuckled, squeezed, and released her. “The coffee is fine. Oh, you look a sight better than when I last saw you. I am amazed!”

 

She blushed, ears going hot, and she took another swallow of coffee to hide it. “I’ve had a couple months to get used to things.”

 

“Yes, yes! Four badges, a Keystone, Saturn has fully evolved, Dresden, Kanaya and Dirk are not far behind, an Inkay, and a Lucario companion! Quite the achievement! Especially for someone from so far away, non?”

 

Her lips pursed and twisted. “Were you expecting anything less?”

 

“Perhaps I am just pleasantly surprised. And maybe I will continue to be surprised as you get the other four badges. I do not see you stopping between now and then.”

 

A laugh broke out of her. “No. No I don’t think I will. I like the challenges, and so does my team. And I really like the looks of surprise on the gym leaders’ faces when I kick their asses. Like they’ve never been beaten before.”

 

“I think it’s because they were expecting you to have a harder time with it. Why, Ramos called me just a few days ago to describe the battle he had with you! He was quite impressed, and he says if you ever want to become a grass-type specialist, he will welcome you with open arms and a pair of shears just like his.”

 

She snorted. “Those  _ were _ the biggest shears I’ve ever seen. But I’m here for another reason.”

 

“Oh? Pray tell, what is it?” He motioned for her to sit down on the other side of his desk, pulling out a tin of cookies and offering some to her as he sat.

 

She took one and nibbled it. “There’s this...cult, going around western Kalos. Team Flare? Have you heard of them?”

 

Sycamore frowned, his eyebrows pulling down over his eyes dramatically. “No, no, I don’t think I have. A cult?”

 

“It’s the best word I can think of. Unless you want to use the word  _ terrorist, _ ” she spat. “I didn’t think much of it when I met them in Glittering Cave, but there were so many up the route to Geosenge, they were the reason I didn’t make it to the town in time before I passed out, they wouldn’t stop challenging me to battles, and wouldn’t let me say  _ no. _ Shalour and Coumarine were free of them, and I almost forgot them, but then…” Her face turned hard.

 

“Something about the power plant? I read the article.”

 

“They’d taken the place  _ over _ . For  _ months! _ And there was only one cop there, who they’d grabbed too! Months! It’s flabbergasting! How did no one else do anything about it?  _ Why? _ ” Brienne exploded. 

 

“You’re right. That is odd. If nothing else, the Ranger outpost should have mentioned  _ something _ to someone. They don’t get out of the area much, but still.” Sycamore rubbed his chin. “Tell me about them.”

 

“Dyed hair and a formal uniform in an eye-searing red-orange hue that nobody sane would wear in as large amounts as they do. Scientists might be higher on the command ladder than we think, because one was giving orders in the plant. Tend to have a lot of the same ‘mons, and can’t train them for shit. Dark, fighting, poison, and a little fire. Scraggy, Croagunk, Zubat and Golbat, Houndour and Houndoom.”

 

“Nothing you haven’t been able to handle,” Sycamore nodded.

 

“Pretty much. Just a  _ lot _ of them.” She huffed. “Besides keeping everyone in the plant hostage, they kept anyone who wandered into it. They tried to take  _ me _ hostage.”

 

“I can see  _ that _ didn’t work.”

 

“Hell no. And they didn’t have any guns, so I just kinda bulldozed right over them,” she snorted. “They didn’t want to blow the place up, it seems they were  _ harvesting _ electricity. It’s why north Lumiose went dark, the plant couldn’t keep up with what they wanted  _ and _ the city.”

 

“Sounds like they had some big batteries to charge,” Sycamore said. “I can make some calls. My mentor, Professor Rowan, has connections to a few detectives. I’ll see what I can come up with.”

 

“You’re not going to call the police?” Brienne asked, confused. 

 

“Why haven’t you?” Sycamore replied. “Either they’re being purposefully ignorant, or someone there is redirecting anything to do with this ‘Team Flare’ into the void, so nothing happens. Either way, calling the police shows our hand.”

 

Shock ran through her, causing her to blink in silence. “That is  _ really _ distrustful of the police system. I didn’t think anyone here was like that.”

 

“Yes, well, I got my doctorate in Sinnoh. For a while they had some terrorist problems too.” He sighed. “You seem to be able to handle yourself against them, which I’m glad for. Either the lower levels are incompetent, or it’s being done on purpose. If you come up against them in the future, go for backup if you can. Be careful.”

 

“You’re not gonna tell me to stay away, or anything?” Brienne asked.

 

“No. We don’t know their plans, so me telling you to stay home might just doom you,” he shrugged. “And we don’t know where they’ll be next. So, just be careful. What of the gym leaders in that area, Grant, Korrina, and Ramos? What do you think of them?”

 

“They’re probably fine? Admittedly, the route between Cyllage and Geosenge was full of them, so they might just need to look back there…” Brienne shrugged. 

 

“I’ll call them, remind them to patrol that area. That’s their shared territory.” Sycamore made a note. “Grace told me she wants you to be at the  _ Milotic _ by seven, and that you should dress up.” He grinned. “You don’t want to be late!”

 

“Okay, okay, I’m going.” Brienne stood up and brushed crumbs off her lap.

 

“Happy Birthday, Brienne. I wish you many more.”

 

She blushed and waved.

 

~*~

 

Dressing up for the night meant another shopping spree, since the only ‘nice’ clothes she had was the outfit she wore in Coumarine. The skirt would still work, but she wanted a different top, and maybe a different pair of shoes. Fortunately, she was in Lumiose, and had no lack of stores and boutiques to choose from.  _ Unfortunately _ , she was in Lumiose and had no lack of stores and boutiques to choose from. There  _ was _ such a thing as overwhelming choice. 

 

She was looking for something in blue, this time, maybe something floaty and lacey and very feminine and pretty. 

 

It was about an hour into her shopping when she got uncomfortable cramps, and thinking--hoping, really--it was something she ate, asked for a restroom. The store clerk, an older lady with gray hair done in a tight bun that looked as severe as Professor McGonagall on a  _ bad _ day but had the sweetest personality, led Brienne to the nicest powder and bathroom she’d ever seen out of a high-end restaurant, asked if she needed anything, and left her to her business. 

 

She sat down on the toilet, emptied her bladder, and when she wiped and pulled away the--really quite nice--toilet paper, she groaned.

 

Red all over. Early enough in the period to be wiped away and  _ not _ on her panties, but late enough for the cramps to have started. She sighed and groaned, just sitting there for a moment. She’d been off her birth control just long enough for nature to come back and take its course with a vengeance, and just at the best time, too!

 

It was her  _ birthday _ , for god’s sake. Fuck this. Fuck her uterus. Fuck the human reproductive system. 

 

She groaned again and smacked her forehead on the stall wall. “Fuck me.”

 

“Cherie? Are you okay? Do you need help?”

 

“Maria?” Her voice came out plaintive, regardless of how she wanted it to sound. 

 

“Oh my. What’s wrong?” Brienne heard footsteps as the store clerk shuffled in, and then saw her feet under the door on the other side of the stall. 

 

“...My period started. And I don’t have anything,” she sniffed. Oh, oh crap, she would  _ not _ start crying. 

 

“Oh, oh it’s okay cherie. Grandmama Maria’s got you. You stay right there, okay? I’ll get Barbara to mind the store for a bit.”

 

Her footsteps shuffled out much faster than they had shuffled in and Brienne stared after them, bewildered. 

 

It wasn’t long before Maria came back, maybe five minutes. Grandmother magic?

 

“Here you go cherie, I got you painkillers and pads, I wasn’t sure what kind you like,” she said softly, pushing the cloth bag under the door. “There’s a small water bottle there too, but behind the counter’s a cup of chamomile waiting for you once you’re out of the bathroom and a comfortable chair to curl up in until you feel like getting up again.”

 

“...You didn’t need to do this…” Brienne whispered in grateful awe as she unwrapped a pad. 

 

“Oh, pish. I have nothing but sons and grandsons. I have been waiting my whole  _ life _ to do this. Maybe if the Gods bless me I will live long enough to see great-granddaughters.”

 

“Yes ma’am.” Brienne said, sufficiently cowed. 

 

“Come come, are you done? Don’t want your tea to get cold,” Maria reminded. 

 

“Yeah, yeah I think so.” Brienne flushed, pulled her jeans back up, and went to wash her hands, still feeling miserable. 

 

“Shhh...Cherie, it will be all right,” Maria hummed, patting Brienne’s hair.

 

“It’s my  _ birthday. _ My Aunt has a  _ party _ waiting for me tonight,” she whined.

 

“Well, then it’s  _ your _ party, and you can sit curled up in a chair all night if you want.” Maria nodded, as if she stated a fact of the world. “She will understand. How many candles, cherie?”

 

“Twenty-one.”

 

“An important year. You have been a woman for many years, but now the experience of it is beginning to show. Youth and experience. Ah, what a time!” Maria wrapped an arm around Brienne and led her out of the bathroom. 

 

“Fond memories?” Brienne asked.

 

“Some, yes. Lots of exciting ones. My fiance at the time was getting his seventh badge, though the gym at the time in Anistar was dark-type, not psychic.”

 

“I’ve got four, so far.”

 

“You are taking the challenge? Oh, so many exciting times ahead of you!” Maria squeezed her a bit and sat her down in the employee break room. “Here you are, your tea with a little honey, because everyone needs sweetness in their life.”

 

“Thank you,” Brienne mumbled, knees coming up to her chin in the chair. 

 

“Now you just rest there. Is there anyone I can call for you?”

 

“...Aunt Grace. There’s a contact button.”

 

“Don’t worry about a thing, cherie.”

 

~*~

 

“Brienne?”

 

The aching girl looked up from her half-doze to see Grace at her side, blanket in her other arm. “Hi, Grace.”

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

Brienne gave her a flat look. “Like I want to yank out my bits with a grapefruit spoon.”

 

Grace winced. “Gotcha. Do you wanna postpone the party a couple days? You can rest up in the hotel with me and we can have the party when you’re feeling better. I know it’s no fun to do things on a period.”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

 

“Think about it a little longer,” Grace said. “I can bundle you up and take you right to my room. You can take a bath or nap or just watch a movie and eat chocolate.”

 

“A bath sounds nice,” Brienne nodded and stood, Grace draping the blanket over her shoulders like a cloak.

“Off to your bed now?” Maria asked, smiling softly. 

 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Thank you!” she lunged gently and caught Maria in a giant hug, one that knocked the blanket off her shoulders and onto the floor. 

 

“Oh!” Maria smiled and patted her softly. “You’re welcome, cherie. Do take care, and come back and tell me about your challenge, hm? Indulge a sweet old lady like me.”

 

“I’ll be here for about a month, training. I will definitely come back. I still haven’t found the right top!” Brienne said, smiling.

 

~*~

 

Grace led Brienne through sun-drowned North Lumiose to hotel Richissime. Even with the blanket on her shoulders, her cramped and aching body soaked up the heat, slowly losing the tension she hadn’t known she’d woken up with. 

 

Walking into Richissime was like walking into a winter breeze, and wrapping the blanket tighter around her top only kept the warmth on the inside. She shuffled faster towards the elevator.

 

_ Air conditioning. _

 

“We’re on the fourth floor, so you won’t have to wait too long. Nice big tub, with those jacuzzi jets?” Grace added, trying to fill the silence in the elevator. 

 

Brienne leaned into the taller woman. “Thanks. For everything, you know? I know...I haven’t been completely visibly grateful about what you’ve done. But I am. Very much so.”

 

“I know,” Grace replied. “You’re still unsure about everything. That’s understandable. Your whole world got thrown upside down and inside out. You’re  _ allowed _ to be a little moody and a lot upset.”

 

She grinned. “I’m definitely gonna be that for a little while. Especially if there’s no chocolate in my near future.”

 

“I can get you chocolate,” Grace agreed. “You like spicy chocolate?”

 

“I  _ love _ it.”

 

Grace’s hotel room, unlike the hotel reception, was actually comfortable, not an aspiring ice box, and Brienne arrowed for the bathroom. “Oh my god this looks  _ fantastic. _ ”

 

Grace called through the closed door as Brienne began to strip. “Do you want anything special? Bath oils? Music? Bubble bath?”

 

“...Do you know what a bath bomb is?” she asked, turning on the water.

 

“Yeah, I do, and I even know where to get it. Sit tight and enjoy the warm water.” 

 

“Grace?”

 

“Yeah hon?”

 

“Postpone the party.”

 

“Okay hon. I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t fall asleep!”

 

“I’ll try not to. This is a really comfortable bath though. Nice and big, I’m not crunched for space, and I can even lean back and rest my head.”

 

“That’s why I said don’t fall asleep!” Grace laughed.

 

~*~

 

Brienne came back to Maria’s boutique the next day, still on her period but not feeling like she wanted to remove her reproductive bits. 

 

Maria all but glomped her the second she appeared, the elder woman possessing a surprisingly strong hug. “Feeling better now, cherie?”

 

“As much as I can, bleeding from bits I don’t want to mention,” Brienne joked. 

 

“Of course,” Maria hummed and patted her shoulder. “Now, you mentioned yesterday that you wanted a blue top? Something A-line? I was looking around after you left and I think I found just the thing…”

 

She was led to the dressing rooms, and handed two pieces of clothing, one a white tube top with an odd sort of stiffness through it, and the other one long, wide strip of material, ranging from light sky-blue to a deep navy that bordered on black, and  _ shimmered. _

 

“Go take off your shirt and bra and put the tube top on. This shirt takes a demonstration,” Maria demanded, shooing her into a stall. 

 

Well, stripping wasn’t hard. “What’s the tube top made of?”

 

“Cotton, a little bit of stretchy synthetic. What you’re feeling is the magnetic cloth between the layers. It’s how the wrap stays on and gives support to your girls.”

 

“This is a wrap? Lovely.” Brienne stepped out of the stall, wrap in her hands. “Show me.”

 

“Okay so feel how the lightest color end is a little heavier? There are extra magnets there. Attach it over the back of one shoulder to the tube top,” Maria patted down the edge. “And bring it around to the front of your chest. Once you start wrapping yourself in it it makes plenty sense. You can leave the edge at your side to dangle, or have the edge finish evenly. Up to you. Now go look in the mirror, see how lovely you are.”

 

Brienne eyed herself from all angles, the three-sided mirror catching everything without awkward straining. She could tug on the wrap to hold tighter to her waist, sharpening the a-line she wanted. She left the wrap to dangle at the end, to emphasize the flair at her hips. It wasn’t as floaty and flowing on her torso as she had originally wanted, but it was  _ gorgeous _ and she couldn’t bring herself to say no to it, or Maria. 

 

“It’s brilliant. I’m keeping this. But now I’m going to need a new pair of bottoms. The skirt I have isn’t going to cut it.”

 

Maria grinned and gleefully clapped her hands. “I have  _ just _ the pair of leggings. You’re walking all over the place, so we’re going to want to emphasize those calves I know you’ve got. You’ve done half the region, your legs are very muscular.”

 

She grinned. “That is one of the  _ best _ things about all this. I’m getting muscle where I didn’t know I could get muscle. My gym teachers would be shocked.”

 

“It’ll make all the ladies and gentlemen look at you enviously,” Maria nodded, coming up with a pair of silvery black leggings. “Try these.”

 

It didn’t take long to switch jeans for leggings, Brienne quietly entranced by how they caught the light. “Perfect.”

 

“Oh, good, I haven’t lost my touch yet,” Maria bragged, nodding to herself. “Do you have shoes that’ll work?” 

 

“Yeah, a pair of strappy things that’ll go up my ankle.”

 

“Fantastic. You want that? You pay for it and you can walk out in them.”

 

“Yes  _ please, _ ” Brienne smiled widely.

 

“Did you go to your party last night?” Maria asked, ringing up the clothes. 

 

“No, Grace was kind enough to postpone it until tomorrow. I don’t know who all’s coming though, no one’s said anything about it.”

 

Maria nodded. “Have fun then, cherie. Come back and visit Grandmama Maria some time, hmm?”

 

Brienne hugged her again. “You never had to ask.”

 

~*~

 

Grace led Brienne blindfolded into the restaurant. “Now I know you knew about this party, but you didn’t know how many people were coming.”

 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Brienne strained her ears to get any sort of hint. The confusion of the normal crowd in the restaurant was muffled. Had they entered into a private party room of some sort--yep, that was the door clicking closed. 

 

“Okay, sit slowly.” Grace advised, hand on her arm to catch her if she dropped awkwardly. 

 

The chair was high-end, comfortable in places restaurant chairs usually weren’t. She leaned back and sighed, the cushions on this thing were fantastic. Someone, probably Grace, pushed her chair in and she felt the edge of the table.

 

“Now what? Do I go through my surprise party blindfolded? That would definitely be different,” Brienne quipped. Someone off to the side failed to muffle their snickers. 

 

“Not quite,” Grace said, a smile in her voice. “Ready?” she said to someone.

 

She must have gotten an affirmative, because the blindfold was pulled off to a show of everyone holding small sparklers in their hands at a large, circular table covered in food. Light was low, encouraging a more intimate setting, small tea-light candles in in flame guards that reflected yellow-orange light onto faces, creating warm shadows and sparkling eyes. 

 

Brienne stared, open mouthed and awed as she took in the crowd. Grace, Professor Sycamore, Shauna, Calem, Trevor and Tierno, Sina and Dexio, even Maria from the boutique. 

 

_ “Happy Birthday, Brienne!” _ they shouted joyfully, as her hands came up to cover her mouth. 

 

“I--I don’t….Oh!” Tears came to her eyes. “Thank you!” she squeaked. 

 

Shauna smiled softly and came to kiss her on the cheek. “You are  _ loved, _ my heart. Even if you don’t think so.”

 

“...Okay,” she nodded, and tried her best to absorb that.

 

“Gifts first, then dinner?” Sycamore suggested. 

 

Grace beamed, and bounced to a side table, which had a solid amount of wrapped gifts and bags on it. 

 

“Yours first, Calem? It seems appropriate.”

 

“Alright. Lalonde. I...hope it helps whatever’s got you,” he mumbled as Grace handed her a fairly heavy box, no bigger than a cantaloupe. It wasn’t wrapped, the box plain white, and it opened up to reveal a camera, with thin packs that looked like refills.

 

“A polaroid camera? Nice!” Brienne grinned, pulling the camera out and inspecting it from all angles. 

 

Calem blushed and shifted in his seat. 

 

“Ours next!” Tierno jumped in his seat. Grace picked up something very book-looking, in simple brown wrapping paper. 

 

Brienne weighed it in her hands and her mouth turned into an ‘oh’ of surprise as it flexed slightly. The paper tore away to reveal a deep purple leather-like cover over gold-edged, lined, blank pages. A journal, with slots for polaroid sized pictures. 

 

“This is  _ gorgeous. _ I love it.”

 

“We were always going to get you a journal, but after Calem told us he was getting you a camera, we found one that would have a place for pictures,” Trevor said, beaming. “It wasn’t too hard to get it customized in a way you would like.”

 

She glanced at the first page and spotted her name in delicate gold calligraphy. “Guys, thank you. It’s beautiful.”

 

Shauna leaned down by her ear and whispered, “Mine’s a bit too rude to reveal in public.”

 

Brienne blushed as the rest laughed. 

 

Maria, smiling gently, pressed a kiss to the top of Brienne’s head. “Happy birthday, cherie.” A small box was deposited into her hands, velvety and fuzzy. 

 

It clicked open to reveal a deep green gem speckled with burnished gold spots held on a thin gold chain. Her eyes went wide.

 

“It’s called galatite. I thought it matched your eyes.”

 

Brienne scrambled to put it on. “Thank you. So does this mean I’ve been adopted again?”

 

Maria laughed. “Perhaps. I have a few grandsons your age, if you’re interested?”

 

“If Shauna doesn’t mind sharing me,” Brienne replied, as Calem glared lasers at the older woman. 

 

Shauna shrugged.

 

“Mine next,” Grace said, dropping a very obviously shaped package into Brienne’s arms. It had an hourglass shape, smaller at the top and wide and rounded at the bottom.

 

She gasped. “You  _ didn’t. _ ”

 

“I sure did,” Grace said. “I know you don’t mind the guitar but I can see you want something you’re more used to.”

 

The plain silver wrapping paper came off to reveal a white carrying case, which easily snapped open to reveal a polished violin, body a beautiful dark wood, the bow unstrung but with silver hair ready to use.

 

“Oh gods.  _ Grace… _ ”

 

“I look forward to hearing you play. I know there’s an introduction phase when it comes to a new instrument, so take your time.”

 

Brienne closed the case and bowed her head. 

 

Sycamore stood up slowly and knelt next to Brienne. “Dear heart, there is one more gift for you.”

 

She looked up enough to see his eyes.

 

“I could not figure out what to wrap it in, so please, hold out your hands.”

 

Her hands came to rest, cupped on top of the violin case. Sycamore’s gift was wrapped in a simple handkerchief, and light glowed through the thin cloth. His hands peeled it away, and once again Brienne gasped. 

 

“It’s a Dawn stone. An evolutionary stone that helps specific Pokemon evolve. With this, female Snorunt can evolve into Froslass, and male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade.” Sycamore explained. 

 

“Dirk said he wanted to evolve into Gallade. I thought I’d have to buy it soon.”

 

Sycamore grinned and gave her a peck to the cheek. “ _ Non! _ It has been delivered to you! Do you think he is ready now?”

 

She smiled, and pulled two pokeballs off her belt, the one thing that went everywhere with her now. “I think they both are.”

 

Once there, Kanaya sighed in relief.  **_“Finally. It’s been a little difficult holding back. Mom trains us well. And_ ** **oh,** **_she’s so happy right now. She just doesn’t know what to do with it.”_ **

 

Dirk’s eyes were focused on the stone.  _ “I can feel it resonating. I didn’t think it’d be so pretty.” _

 

Brienne stood and kneeled at the feet of her very first two pokemon, eyes wet. “Ready, my loves?”

 

**_“Always ready,”_ ** they said in tandem.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Trevor taking picture after picture. She paid it no mind. She carefully handed Dirk the Dawn Stone, and both Kirlia began to glow, lithium bright, throwing shadows to all corners of the room.

 

Both figures grew dramatically in height, Kanaya growing a slim, straight dress and hair that stopped short of her shoulders. Dirk became all angles and lines, a crest growing on his head that resembled a Roman Centurion’s helmet feathers. 

 

The sheer energy that emerged when a pokemon evolved faded after a brief moment, Brienne blinking away afterimages, and smiled up into two sets of blood-red eyes. 

 

“Oh, look at you two. I’m  _ so proud _ of you both. So proud.” Brienne blinked and felt tears track their way down her cheeks, and she lunged into hugging the both of them so they couldn’t see. 

  
  


**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Pokémon Hero: The Ballad of Ralph Wingates](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3262319) by [SaintAnselmOfTheDesert](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintAnselmOfTheDesert/pseuds/SaintAnselmOfTheDesert)
  * [A Tablespoon of Feather](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3269615) by [HakureiRyuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HakureiRyuu/pseuds/HakureiRyuu)
  * [fight plan](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3956839) by [deltacrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deltacrow/pseuds/deltacrow)




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